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^ V 



V 



A MANUAL 



COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY, 



IN WHICH THE 



AFFINITY OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES 



IS ILLUSTRATED, AND APPLIED TO THE 



PRIMEVAL HISTORY 



EUROPE, ITALY, AND ROME. 



REV. W. B. WINNING, M.A. 



The genealogy and antiquities of nations can be learned only from the sure testimony 
of languages themselves. — Bopp. 



LONDON 




PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON, 

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD, 
AND WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 



1838. 



\\1 



L «) N 1) o N : 
.ill.hKUT &r RIVINGTON, FHIMKR-S 

ST. John's square. 



PREFACE. 



The following pages are offered as a Manual for the study 
of Philology. A sufficient number of facts has now been 
established to admit of analysis and arrangement, and to 
take the subject out of the hands of the mere collector and 
antiquarian; and I propose here to treat it as a young 
Science, in the full and literal meaning of the word. Of 
course, many works with this view have already appeared ; 
but, for the greater part, they have been confined to a par- 
ticular class of idioms, and been written in a foreign lan- 
guage. The present treatise comprises the whole Indo- 
European family, according to the latest German writers, 
Bopp and Pott ; but its principal object is to illustrate the 
affinity of every idiom in Europe, and to approach towards 
a nearer acquaintance with the early history of our quarter 
of the world. 

In a syllabus of the history of so many nations and lan- 
guages, it was impossible to verify the accuracy of all my 

a2 



IV PREFACE. 

authorities ; it is, therefore, pardonable, if I have retailed 
one or two old errors : but, on all original points, I am in 
duty bound to consider myself amenable to the court of 
criticism ; and would invite particular attention to my new 
view of the origin of the Tuscans, which I wish to be con- 
sidered as the principal feature of the work. On this sub- 
ject I have drawn my authorities from a very unusual 
source : my reasons for doing so will be best explained by 
giving one or two extracts from Niebuhr on the Origin and 
Early History of Rome. 

Concerning the settlement of -^neas in Italy, Niebuhr 
says: " By this combination of evidence I think I have 
established the correctness of the view, that the Trojan 
legend was not brought into Latium by Greek literature, 
but must be considered as home-sprung ; and when I have 
added, that in spite of this it has not the least historical 
truth, nor even the slightest historical importance, I should 
wish to quit the subject" (vol. i. p. 186). His second 
volume begins thus : " It was one of the main objects of 
the first volume to prove that the story of Rome, under the 
kings, was altogether without historical foundation." With 
respect to Servius TuUius, the Mastarna of the Tuscan 
annals, he says : " The Etruscan story, if it had come to 
us immediately and authentically from the old Etruscan 
annals, could not be gainsaid, but would be irreconcilable 
with all the rest of Roman history ; nor would it lead to 
any results" (vol. i. p. 377). And, lastly, of the war with 
Porsenna he says, " not a single incident can pass for his- 



PREFACE. V 

torical" (vol. i. p. 542). In short, the whole of Tuscan 
history is involved in the greatest obscurity; which was 
caused, according to Niebuhr, by the careful destruction of 
all the Tuscan annals by the Romans themselves, to con- 
ceal the disgrace of the Tuscan conquest. 

If such is the state of early Roman history after the 
labours even of a Niebuhr, we are surely justified in apply- 
ing to any source, however extraordinary, in the hope of 
gleaning some historical truths. Now the Rabbis entertain 
very peculiar opinions on the origin of Rome ; but these 
hitherto have either been entirely overlooked or treated 
with contempt. One author says that their statements set 
at defiance all authentic history and accurate chronology ; 
whilst another tells us he is startled by assertions which 
nothing else confirms. But, granting for the present the 
justice of these decisions, are they at all worse than the 
sentence which Niebuhr has passed on the commonly 
received history, that we should be deterred from searching 
critically into the Rabbinical statements. 

It is well known that the Old Testament contains several 
prophecies concerning Rome, in which the Rabbis of all 
ages have taken a deep interest, as they connect their own 
destiny with the fate of Rome. Thus R. Kimchi says: 
" When Rome shall be laid waste, there shall be redemp- 
tion to Israel." If we consider the greatness of the inter- 
ests involved in the point, and the very early period at 
which their literature flourished, it is certainly no unrea- 
sonable supposition that they had the means, as well as the 



VI PREFACE. 

inclination, to make themselves acquainted with the anti- 
quities of Rome ; though the sure foundation of truth, in 
their case as well as in others, has been sadly overlaid 
with a fanciful superstructure of modern legends. I have 
confronted the Rabbinical with the Classical statements, and 
leave the result to the judgment of the reader ; if it does 
not produce immediate conviction, it will at least command 
serious attention. For my own part, I have been startled 
by coincidences which confirm the accuracy of the Rabbin- 
ical sources ; but I shall not speak confidently, for Niebuhr 
has said on the subject of the Tuscans, " If any body pre- 
tends that he is able to decide with confidence in questions 
of such obscurity, let none listen to him" (vol. i. p. 380). 

I give below a list of the works which I have constantly 
used on the general subject of this Manual; of course I 
have consulted a great many others, to which I have made 
the proper references in the particular divisions of my 
Treatise ; but the writers here mentioned were my prin- 
cipal guides, and it is to these works of the respective 
authors, that reference is made when the writers are men- 
tioned only by name. 

I must also acknowledge my obligations to the periodical 
literature of the day, which contains many learned disserta- 
tions relating to my subject ; and would mention with par- 
ticular respect, the archaeological and philological papers 
in the Quarterly Review. 



PREFACE. Vll 

List of Works, 

Vergleichende Grammatik des Sanskrit, Zend, Griechis- 
chen, Lateinischen, Litthauischen, Altslawischen, Gothis- 
chen und Deutschen; von Franz Bopp. 1833 — 1837. 

Etymologische Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Indo- 
Germanischen Sprachen, insbesondere des Sanskrit, Grie- 
chischen, Lateinischen, Littauischen, und Gothischen ; von 
Dr. Aug. Friedr. Pott. 1833—1836. 

Uber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier ; von Fried- 
rich Schlegel. J 808. 

R. Rask uber das Alter und die Echtheit der Zend- 
Sprache, nebst einer Ubersicht des gesammten Sprach- 
stammes ; ubersetzt von Fr. H. von der Hagen. 1826. 

Vergleichungs-tafeln der Europaischen Stamm- Sprachen 
und Sud-West-Asiatischer, herausgegeben von Johann 
Severin Vater. 1822. 

C. G. von Arndt uber den Ursprung und die verschieden- 
artige Verwandtschaft der Europaischen Sprachen, heraus- 
gegeben von Dr. Joh. Ludwig Kluber. 1818. 

Die Vorhalle Europaischer Volker-geschichten vor Hero- 
dotus, um den Kaukasus und an den Gestaden des Pontus ; 
von Carl Ritter. 1820. 

The History of Greece ; by William Mitford. 1822. 

Niebuhr's History of Rome; translated by Julius Charles 
Hare, and Connop Thirlwall. 1831. 

Storia degli Antichi Popoli Italiani ; di Giuseppe Micali. 
1832. 



Vlll PREFACE. 

Die Etrusker; von Karl Otfried Muller. 1828. 

Die Sprache der alten Preussen, aufgestellt von Jobann 
Severin Vater. 1821. 

Essai Critique sur Phistoire dela Livonie; par le Comte 
de Bray. 1817. 

The Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations, proved by a 
comparison of their Dialects with the Sanskrit, Greek, 
Latin, and Teutonic Languages; by J. C. Prichard. 1831. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN 
LANGUAGES. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

General Remarks : Proposed Nomenclature : Use and Abuse of 

Philology: Palsetiology I 

CHAPTER II. 

Progress of Philology: Sanskrit, Zend, Persian: Medo-Eu- 

ropean and Perso-European Idioms 16 

CHAPTER III. 

Table of Languages : Prefixes : Grimm's Law : Relative Anti- 
quity of European Languages 33 

CHAPTER IV. 

Indo-European Vocabulary : Nouns, Adjectives, Numerals, 

Verbal Roots 49 



X CONTENTS. 



PART II. 



ON THE HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

On the Sclavonian Languages 75 

CHAPTER II. 
On the Lithuanian Languages 88 

CHAPTER III. 
On the German Languages 107 

CHAPTER IV. 
On the Celtic Languages 124 



PART III. 

ON THE PRIMEVAL HISTORY OF EUROPE, 11 ALV, ANU 
ROME. 

CHAPTER I. 
On the Relation of early Hamite tribes to Europe 141 

CHAPTER II. 

On the Pelasgians of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy . . . . 16 1 

CHAPTER III. 
On the Origin and Prophetic Destiny of the Tuscans . . . . 184 



CONTENTS. XI 



CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

On the Origin of the Sabines . 245 



APPENDIX. 

Hebrew Hamite not Semitic ; Three kinds of Languages ; Con- 
fusion of Tongues at Babel; Language, not a human 
invention 273 



CONTRACTIONS AND NOTATION USED IN THIS WORK. 



Skr. Sanskrit. 
Z. Zend. 
P. Persian. 
Or. Greek. 
Lat. Latin. 
Scl. Sclavonian. 
Lith. Lithuanian. 
Lett. Lettish. 



O. Pr. Old Prussian. 

Goth. Gothic. 

Scand. Scandinavian. 

A. Sax. Anglo-Saxon. 

O. H. G. Old High German. 

L. G. Low German. 

E. Erse. 

W. Welsh. 



The letters b", d', g", are the aspirates of b, d, g, &c. ; and the 
accented c', g', are to be pronounced as in chitchat, ginger. 



PART I. 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



OF THE 



INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



It is chiefly by comparison that we determine, as far as our sensible and 
intellectual faculties reach, the nature of things. Frederick Schlegel justly 
expects, that Comparative Philology will give us quite new explications of 
the genealogy of Languages, just as Comparative Anatomy has thrown light 
on Natural Philosophy. — Bapp. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL REMARKS I PROPOSED NOMENCLATURE : USE 
AND ABUSE OF PHILOLOGY : PAL^TIOLOGY. 

Europe was the stage of human life, and its interests, many 
ages before the commencement of her written history ; but 
the stirring events of that primeval period are shrouded in 
a deep gloom : we know, indeed, from an infallible source, 
that " God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to 
dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts xvii. 26) ; yet the 
particular genealogies and movements of the various Eu- 
ropean settlers were long as much unknown to us, as if they 
had belonged to a distinct race of a different world. Earnest 
have been the attempts, and various the means employed, 
to pass the gulf and penetrate the gloom, which virtually 
made us a distinct race from our ancient kin. The slightest 
relic of art, the most obscure trace of building, has been 
investigated with the greatest care : even the abodes of 
death have been consulted on their modes of life. But the 
most accurate and abundant information has arisen from an 
entirely different source : fleeting as language in itself may 

b2 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



be, it has raised for tlie primeval history of man more last- 
ing monuments than those of stone or brass. The investi- 
gation of languages with this view has long been cultivated, 
and has at last begun to yield some definite and positive 
results. The end of the last century was the opening of a 
new era: new discoveries and new principles made a com- 
plete revolution in the study of languages, ai\d vindicated 
to Philology the honours of a science. 

" At that time," says Niebuhr, " Philology had recog- 
nised its calling to be the mediator between the remotest 
ages, to afford us the enjoyment of preserving, through 
thousands of years, an unbroken identity with the noblest 
and greatest nations of the ancient world, by familiarizing 
us, through the medium of grammar and history, with the 
works of their minds, and the course of their destinies, as 
if there were no gulf that divided us from them ^" 

But it is only lately that any language has been studied 
beyond its own immediate grammar ; the comprehensive 
views and scientific principles that have recently been 
applied to the combined study of many languages, — the 
Sanskrit, Sclavonian, Gothic, — have advanced philology to 
a still more improved state; and have wrought, for the 
history of our race, as great wonders as Comparative 
Anatomy for the extinct forms of animal life ; and it is now 
as much the business of the Philoloo^ist to recover the 
remoter history of man, through the fragments of dead 
languages, in the use of Comparative Philology, as it is ot 
the Geologist to unveil the history of former worlds, from 
the fossil remains of extinct animals by means of Compa- 
rative Anatomy. 

* Nicbuhr's History of Rome, vol. i. p. ix. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 5 

Mr. Beke has well described " the extraordinary result 
which has at length been arrived at, after the thorough 
investigation to which the Indo-European languages have 
been subjected." He says, " Notwithstanding the labours 
of so many truly learned men, who, during a considerable 
period, had devoted their whole energies to the study and 
comparison of these languages, it is only within the last 
few years that the startling conclusion has been established, 
that they are — Celtic and Gothic, the total dissimilarity of 
which had been so warmly advocated, — Russian and Latin, 
between which it would have been considered almost 
madness to attempt to trace a resemblance, — Greek, Per- 
sian, and Sanskrit, the language of the immortals, and those 
of the barbarians, all deducible from one source, and, as it 
were, merely dialects of one parent language ; whilst, to 
perfect the revolution of opinion that has thus taken place, 
the Greek and Latin languages, which, at one time, it 
would have amounted aLnost to a heresy to imagine not to 
be derived from the Hebrew, are now shown to be of a 
totally different stock, and to have scarcely any thing in 
common with that language, excepting some words which 
have been introduced by Hamitish colonists from Phoenicia 
and Egypt ^" 

When any idiom falls into disuse, and becomes a dead 
language, it is no longer subject to fluctuations in its words 
or grammar : in fact, it sinks into a petrified state, and 
securely preserves to us the mode of thought among the 
people, and their relation to other races, as fossil remains 
shew the forms and relations of animal life. But when a 
dead language, discovered in the other extremity of the 

2 Beke's Origines Biblicae, vol, i. p. 103. 



b GENERAL REMARKS. 

globe, shewed a close affinity with some European lan- 
guages, and therefore pointed out a near relationship 
between these widely distant races ; such conclusions at 
first were naturally received with distrust, and a more 
simple explanation of the phenomenon wais sought and 
found. The striking resemblance of Sanskrit and Greek 
in some points easily suggested the idea that i^anskrit was 
a factitious compound of Greek, invented by the Brahmins 
for religious purposes, after the conquests of Alexander in 
the East. From a kindred feeling, the bones of elephants, 
when first found in England, were simply and naturally 
accounted for by their introduction with the Roman armies. 
But the simplicity of an explanation is not always the war- 
rant of its truth ; for, subsequently, elephants' bones were 
found accompanied with those of the rhinoceros, — and these 
animals were never known to be attendants on the arms of 
Rome. The theory of the Grecian origin of the Sanskrit 
tongue met with as easy a refutation ^ ; for a farther inves- 
tigation led to the discovery that Latin was still more 
nearly related to Sanskrit than Greek itself. Thus the 
original inference of the Eastern origin of some important 
European races remained undisturbed : the accumulation 
of evidence, since brought forward, leaves not a shadow of 
doubt in the case of the whole European family. 

It is the object of the present work to bring forward the 
most striking features of this evidence in a succinct form : 
to arrange what was before known, in a more simple and 
scientific manner ; and to offer for discussion some new 
views, which, it is hoped, will ultimately place the early 

3 " This theory," says Fr. Schlegel, p. 28, '• is about as happy as that 
which would account for the Egyptian pyramids as natural crystalliza- 
tions." 



PROPOSED NOMENCLATURE. 7 

history of the European nations in a more clear and 
distinct light. 

In this attempt to illustrate the genealogical antiquities 
of the West, I have endeavoured to establish a new division 
of the European languages, into two distinct but cognate 
classes. The existence of such a distinction shewed itself 
first in the case of the German idioms. Having collected 
numerous observations from various authors, concerning 
the relation of the different German dialects to other lan- 
guages, I endeavoured to discover some common principle 
that would explain them all. The facts having been noted 
down, as they occurred to me in reading, of course pre- 
sented a confused appearance, and seemed to have no bond 
of connexion ; but a very simple principle, when once dis- 
covered, clearly revealed the mutual relation of them all. 
The key to the whole is this : when German Philologists 
make a formal comparison of their language with Latin, it 
is observable they always have recourse to Gothic and 
Low German, which, through the Sclavonian, lead us back 
to old Median ; on the other hand, when High German is 
the subject of discussion, they as regularly compare it with 
Greek, or directly with Persian : on these grounds, I ven- 
tured to make a division of these idioms into Medo- German 
and Perso-German. 

The same observations apply with equal force to the 
Greek language, which I have been led, from similar mo- 
tives, to divide into Medo-Grecian and Perso-Grecian. 
To test the truth of my division of the German dialects, I 
proceeded to apply the principle to other languages; and as 
the Latin had always been considered as very heterogeneous 
in its composition, and as containing a very strong element 
of Greek, I chose it as favourable for a first attempt ; but 



CS PROPOSED NOMENCLATURE. 

found, to my surprise, that Latin was the least mixed of the 
two, and belonged entirely to the Median division ; whilst 
Greek contained two clearly distinguishable elements, the 
Medo-Grecian and Perso- Grecian. The former, or Medo- 
Grecian, constitutes what is generally called the Grecian 
part of Latin ; but it would be more correctly denominated 
the Latin part of Greek. It is hardly necessary to add, 
as a conclusion from these premises, that Latin is of greater 
antiquity than the language of Greece. 

After the instances of Greek and German, the division 
of Celtic into two similar families was an easy consequence. 
These two families do not indeed present exactly the same 
differences as the others already mentioned ; yet, because 
the analogy is strictly preserved by the close affinity of 
Welsh with Greek, and of Erse with Latin, I have been 
induced to name them the Medo-Celtic and Perso-Celtic. 

This division of the European languages into two classes, 
the Median and Persian, leads me to suspect that the Sans- 
krit had no direct influence upon our Western idioms; but 
that the Sanskrit words in these last were brought here 
through the Median and Persian, which are kindred lan- 
guages with Sanskrit; whilst the Sanskrit itself, in its 
direct relations, was entirely confined to the East. 

I have explained, in the case of German, the reasons 
which led me to adopt the division into Median and Per- 
sian, which I have used for other languages also ; but I do 
not wish to imply that the terms Median and Persian 
afford a satisfactory explanation of all the phenomena to be 
accounted for : when the subject comes to be more tho- 
roughly understood, it is probable that a more suitable 
nomenclature will be suggested. In the mean time, I shall 
use it as the best within my reach; and leave to the reader 



USE AND ABUSE OF PHILOLOGY. 9 

to estimate the value of the historical and philological 
arguments I shall produce in support of this twofold 
arrangement of languages, which he will at least find very 
conducive to a comprehensive and perspicuous view of his 
subject. An additional nomenclature of this nature was 
actually necessary for my purpose ; but I am ready to 
sacrifice it for any better that can be substituted ; as also 
the theory it implies, which is only incidental to it. For 
the rest, I profess to have been constantly on my guard 
against the inherent failing which is supposed to attach to 
the study of Philology. " It must be a matter of regret," 
says Mr. Prichard, " to those who are aware of the real 
value of this resource, that it has been applied with so little 
judgment, that many writers, who have devoted them- 
selves to the study of what is termed Philology, have mixed 
up so much that is extravagant and chimerical with the 
results of their researches, as not only to throw a shade of 
doubt and uncertainty over them, but even to bring ridi- 
cule and contempt upon the pursuits in which they have 
been engaged. A fondness for wild conjecture and for 
building up systems upon the most inadequate and pre- 
carious foundations, has been supposed to belong to the 
whole class of writers on the history and afiinities of lan- 
guages, and it has certainly prevailed in no ordinary degree 
among them. Even some of the latest works on these sub- 
jects, though abounding with curious and valuable informa- 
tion, are in a particular manner liable to this censure. 
The treatise of Professor Murray on the European lan- 
guages, though it displays extensive knowledge and dili- 
gent research, is scarcely mentioned without ridicule ; and 
in the ' Asia Polyglotta' of M. Julius Klaproth, which 
has added very considerably to our acquaintance with the 



10 USE AND ABUSE OF PHILOLOGY. 

dialects and genealogy of the Asiatic races, we find the 
results of accurate investigation mixed up and blended 
with too much that is uncertain and hypothetical. It must, 
however, be allowed, that there are not a few writers, in 
both earlier and later times, who are scarcely, if in any 
degree, chargeable with the same faults, and whose acute- 
ness and soundness of discernment are equal tcT their exten- 
sive and profound erudition. This may be truly said of 
Vossius and Edward Lhuyd, among the Philologists of 
former ages ; and in more recent times, of Professor Vater, 
the Schlegels, Bopp, and Professor Jacob Grimm. The 
comparison of languages is, perhaps, incapable of affording 
all the results which some persons have anticipated from 
it. It would be too much to expect from this quarter, to 
demonstrate the unity of race, or an original sameness of 
idiom in the whole human species. But this resource, if 
properly applied, will furnish great and indispensable 
assistance in many particular inquiries relating to the his- 
tory and affinity of nations *." 

" They who are properly qualified to appreciate the 
matter," says a writer in the ' Quarterly Review,' " know 
that Philology is neither a useless nor a trivial pursuit ; 
that, when treated in an enlightened and philosophical 
spirit, it is worthy of all the exertions of the subtlest as 
well as most comprehensive intellect. The knowledge of 
words is, in its full and true acceptation, the knowledge of 
things ; and a scientific acquaintance with a language can- 
not fail to throw some light on the origin, history, and 
condition of those who speak or spoke it. Who knew any 
thing about the gipsies, till an examination of their languiige 

* Prichard, p. 3. 



USE AND ABUSE OF PHILOLOGY. 11 

proved, beyond all doubt, that they came from the banks of 
the Indus ? Who knows any thing about the Pelasgi ? 
And who does not perceive that two connected sentences 
of their language would tell us more clearly what they 
really were, than all that has hitherto been written about 
them ^ ?" " The history of the Goths, who conquered the 
Roman empire, furnish another example. The real origin 
of this people could not have been known with certainty, 
if we had not come into possession of an ample specimen of 
their language, in the version of Ulphilas. By this we 
learn that they were not Getse or Thracians, as most of the 
writers who lived near to the era of the Gothic invasion 
supposed them to be, and as some modern historians have 
maintained, but, in conformity with their own traditions, 
nearly allied in kindred to the northern tribes of the 
German family ^" 

We thus see that the investigation of the words of a 
language leads to important results concerning the history 
of the people that speak it; but attention even to the 
letters, by which the words of different idioms vary from 
one another, affords very useful information, which could 
not be derived from other sources, or confirms the conclu- 
sions we have otherwise obtained : e. g. the Median and 
Persian classes of languages are distinguished by the pre- 
ference of certain letters, and by the more or less frequent 
use of various prefixes: o-^ovreg, dentes; ge-burt, birth, &c. 
But the most curious and unexpected result from investi- 
gating mere letters, which to many has appeared a trifling 
and useless pursuit ^ is the chronological scale which it 



"'' Quarterly Review, vol. liv. p. 296. ^ Prichard, p. 5. 

^ The smart satire against Philologists, that theirs is a science, oii la 
voyelle ne fait rien, et la consonne fort peu de chose, was perhaps true in 



12 PALiETIOLOGY. 

affords of the relative antiquity of the great families of 
Europe. Professor Grimm's law of the regular interchange 
of certain letters in Greek, Gothic, and old High German, 
affords an agreeable exercise to the mind from the neatness 
of the formula ; but it proves farther, that Gothic is inter- 
mediate in age to the other two : and I shall afterwards 
shew from it, that the Sclavonian family was n6t the last of 
the great races which have entered Europe ; and that it 
need not, therefore, according to the common opinion, be 
excluded from having furnished some of the earliest settlers 
in Italy and Greece. 

I have called this work " A Manual of Comparative 
Philology, in which (1) the affinity of the Indo-European 
languages is illustrated; and (2) applied to the early history 
of Europe, Italy, and Rome." To denote the object pointed 
out in the first division of my title-page, the term Compa- 
rative Philology, which is now getting into common use, is 
a suitable and happy expression : it is not so, however, with 
respect to the second division. In entering upon the early 
history of Italy, it becomes quite necessary, besides the 
affinity of languages, to take into consideration monuments 
of art, customs, government, religion, and the general style 
of civilization. The name, therefore, of Comparative Phi- 
lology, is not sufficiently comprehensive for the science 
treated of in this work; the subject, in its whole extent, 
belongs rather to the class of sciences which have lately 
been called Palaetiological ; and of which Geology is, at 
present, the best representative. 

" By the class of sciences here referred to," says Mr. 
Whewell, who introduced the term Palaetiological, " I 

particular instances ; but, abstractedly considered, it is as weak as the lolly 
against which it was directed. 



PAL^TioLor^y. 13 

mean to point out those researches in which the object is, 
to ascend from the present state of things to a more ancient 
condition, from which the present is derived by intelligible 
causes. The sciences which treat of causes have sometimes 
been termed (Etiological^ from aina, a cause : but this term 
would not sufficiently describe the speculations of which we 
now speak ; since it might include sciences which treat of 
permanent causality, like mechanics, as well as inquiries 
concerning progressive causation. The investigations which 
we now wish to group together, deal, not only with the 
possible, but with the actual past ; and a portion of Geology 
has properly been termed palcsontology (TraXat, ovra)^ since 
it treats of beings which formerly existed. Hence, com- 
bining these two notions (TraXat, mria)^ the term palcstiology 
appears to be not inappropriate, to describe those specula- 
tions which thus refer to actual past events, but attempt to 
explain them by laws of causation. Such speculations are 
not confined to the world of inert matter : we have exam- 
ples of them in inquiries concerning the monuments of the 
art and labour of distant ages ; in examinations into the 
origin and early progress of states and cities, customs and 
languages ; as well as in researches concerning the causes 
and formations of mountains and rocks, the imbedding of 
fossils in strata, and their elevation from the bottom of the 
ocean. All these speculations are connected by this bond, 
that they endeavour to ascend to a past state of things, by 

the aid of the evidence of the present. Again, we may 

notice another common circumstance in the studies which 
we are grouping together as palsetiological, diverse as they 
are in their subjects. In all of them we have the same kind 
of manifestations of a number of successive changes, each 
springing out of a preceding state ; and in all, the pheno- 



14 PALJETIOLOGY. 

mena at each step become more and more complicated, by 
involving the results of all that has preceded, modified by- 
supervening agencies. The general aspect of all these 
trains of change is similar, and offers the same features for 
description. The relics and ruins of the earlier states are 
preserved, mutilated and dead, in the products of later 
times. The analogical figures by which we ari6 tempted to 
express this relation, are philosophically just. It is more 
than a mere fanciful description, to say, that in languages, 
customs, forms of society, political institutions, we see a 
number of formations superimposed upon one another, each 
of which is, for the most part, an assemblage of fragments 
and results of the preceding condition. Though our com- 
parison might be bold, it would be just if we were to say, 
that the English language is a conglomerate of Latin 
words, bound together in a Saxon cement ; the fragments 
of the Latin being partly portions introduced directly from 
the parent quarry, with all their sharp edges ; and partly 
pebbles of the same material, obscured and shaped by long 
rolling in a Norman or some other channel. Thus the 
study of palsetiology in the materials of the earth, is only a 
type of similar studies with respect to all the elements, 
which, in the history of the earth's inhabitants, have been 
constantly undergoing a series of connected changes ^" 

Perhaps Philology, and the connected archaeological 
subjects, are not yet sufficiently advanced to constitute 
collectively, under an appropriate name, a complete and 
uniform member of the Palsetiological class of sciences; 
and I have therefore retained the more common and intel- 
ligible phrase, Comparative Philology, though in a more 

'^ Whowell's History of the Inductive Sciences, vol. iii. p. 481. 
12 



PALiETIOLOGY. 15 

extended sense than exactly belongs to it. From want of 
some general title, Fr. Schlegel has named his treatise, 
which is one of the earliest works in this department of 
Palsetiology, ' An Essay on the Language and Philosophy 
of the Hindoos ;' which he has divided into three books, on 
Language, Religion, and Polity. My object in the pre- 
sent Work is to perform for Italy and the West, the same 
kind of task which he has executed for India and the East ; 
and to induce others to enter upon the same path. May 
Palsetiology, on the higher theme of Man, obtain as nume- 
rous and scientific inquirers as she already possesses on the 
subject of the earth ! 



CHAPTER 11. 



PROGRESS OF PHILOLOGY : SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN : 
MEDO-EUROPEAN AND PERSO-EUROPEAN IDIOMS. 

For an insight into the nature of language itself, and 
into the earliest migrations of one great family of the 
human race, no monument has been left us from antiquity 
more instructive than the remains of the Sanskrit tongue. 
It has been well said, that " India, formerly « the home 
and birth-place' of all sorts of prodigies, contains nothing 
at the present day half so marvellous, or calculated to 
strike an enlightened inquirer with so much surprise and 
admiration, as the sacred idiom, to which the guardianship 
of all its treasures, of religion, science, and literature, has 
been in great measure confided ^" The word Sanshrit 
refers, not to the locality, but to the character of the lan- 
guage, and would be best translated into English by the 
term classical. It is derived from the Sanskrit sam, ' cum,* 
and krita, 'facta' {kritas, krita, kritami from the verbal root 
kri or kar, ' to make'), and signifies confecta, perfecta. 

* Edinburgh Review, vol. li. p. 546. 



PROGRESS OF PHILOLOGY. 17 

Besides its own intrinsic worth, Sanskrit has enabled us 
rightly to estimate and advantageously to use the materials 
we already possessed. The Gothic tongue is the most 
important among the numerous class of German idioms, 
and holds the same high place among its kindred dia- 
lects, as Sanskrit among the Indo-European. The Gothic 
gospels of Ulphilas have been well known for more than a 
century ; and it was solely in consequence of the low state 
of criticism during that period, that they failed to reveal 
the degree of affinity that exists between all the German 
and the two classic languages. The other great division of 
idioms, the Sclavonian, has only lately been cultivated for 
philological purposes: their close affinity with Latin de- 
cidedly proves the kindred origin of the Sclavonian and 
Italian tribes, and decides the question that Latin is not 
a dialect of Greek, but even ranks higher than its rival in 
the scale of European antiquity. 

Every relic of every dialect is now sought out with 
the greatest care, and the collected materials are 
arranged and investigated with scientific precision. This 
favourable result is entirely due to the discovery of 
Sanskrit : its palpable resemblance to Latin and Greek, 
together with its great remoteness from all European inte- 
rests, afforded striking matter for wonder ; and the impulse 
was kept yp and regulated by the opportuneness of the dis- 
covery, at a time when philology was rising to its place 
among- the sciences. 

Philologists, however, will readily acknowledge the merits 
of the Danish scholar and traveller, Rask. In his prize 
essay on the Thracian class of languages, written in the 
year 1814, he had begun successfully, even without the 
aid of Sanskrit, to investigate on rational grounds the 



18 PROGRESS OF PHILOLOGY. 

affinity of Scandinavian and Gothic on one hand, and of 
Sclavonian and Lithuanian on the other, with the two 
classic languages. " His omission of the Sanskrit, which 
was little known at that time, cannot," says Bopp, "be 
made a ground of reproach; but his dispensing with it is 
so much the more to be regretted, as we plainly see that 
he was in a condition to have made a spirited use of it ; 
as it is, he arrives only half-way at the real truth. We 
owe to that early work the first intimation of a regular 
interchange of letters in different languages, which Grimm 
afterwards so admirably developed in his simple law. His 
later work, which was written in the year 1826, in illus- 
tration of Zend, and which affords us the earliest scientific 
information on that language, must be held in high honour 
as a first attempt ; it shews clearly that Zend is not a mere 
dialect of Sanskrit, but is related to it as Latin is to Greek, 
or Scandinavian to Gothic"^. 

Writers acquainted with the eastern dialects inform us, 
that the languages in the north of India, the Hindostanee, 
Bengalee, &c., consist almost entirely of Sanskrit, either 
in a pure or corrupt state, but shorn of all its profusion of 
grammatical inflexions, and reduced, like most modern 
idioms, to the necessity of supplying their place with 
auxiliary verbs and separate particles. The languages 
more to the south, the Teluga, Tamul, Canarese, &c., are 
of a different origin from Sanskrit: according to Rask, 
they belong rather to the Tatar and Finnish dialects of 
middle and northern Asia. He supposes that a great 
Scythian race once extended continuously from the Arctic 
to the Indian Ocean; that this line of settlements wiis 
broken through by Sanskrit tribes from Iran, who pos- 

-* Vergleichende Grammatik, ^'orrede. 



I 



PROGRESS OF PHILOLOGY. 19 

sessecl themselves of Hindostan and the Deccan, and drove 
the former inhabitants towards the southern point of the 
peninsula ^ It was also the opinion of Sir W. Jones, that 
Sanskrit was native to Iran, and was introduced by con- 
querors upon the original language of Hindostan. The 
influence of Sanskrit, however, was not limited to India; 
it extended still farther eastward to the borders of China, 
and spread over the islands in the south. " One original 
language seems, in a very remote period, to have pervaded 
the whole Archipelago, and to have spread towards Mada- 
gascar on the one side, and to the islands in the South Sea 
on the other; but in the proportion that we find any of 
these tribes more highly advanced in the arts of civilized 
life than the others, in nearly the same proportion do we 
find the language enriched by a corresponding accession of 
Sanskrit terms, directing us at once to the source whence 
civilization flowed towards these regions*." 

From these eastern parts I turn to consider the relations of 
Sanskrit to the families of the West. It is now well known 
that numerous Sanskrit words are found in all languages, 
from India to England and Iceland. This interesting dis- 
covery is primarily due to the investigations of Mr. Halhed, 
who, about the year 1778, "first opened the inestimable 
mine of Sanskrit literature," by a comparison with Latin 
and Greek. Sir W. Jones soon after confirmed and added 
to Mr. Halhed's observations. He says, — " The Sanskrit 
language is of a wonderful structure ; more perfect than the 
Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely 
refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger 
affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of 

^ Uber die Zend sprache, p. 6. 

* Raffles' History of Java, vol. i. p. 368. 

c2 



20 PIIOGRESS OF PHILOLOGY. 

grammar, tiian could possibly have been produced by acci- 
dent ; so strong, indeed, that no pLilologer could examine 
them all three, without believing them to have sprung 
from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer 
exists. There is a similar reason, though not quite so 
forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, 
though blended with a very different idiom, /liad the same 
origin with the Sanskrit: the old Persian may be added 
to the same family \" In the year 1809, a comparative 
vocabulary of Sanskrit, Persian, Latin, and German, ap- 
peared in the thirteenth volume of the Edinburgh Review % 
which clearly proved a common relationship between these 
European and Eastern nations. The subject, however, 
found most favour, and was pursued with greatest zeal, 
among German writers : the striking similarity between 
Gothic and Sanskrit, and between High German and Per- 
sian, presented quite a national object to their laborious 
scholarship and adventurous criticism; and they entered on 
this new course with patriotic zeal, as if for the recovery of 
a lost patrimony. Hence their generic name for this class 
of cognate languages is Indo- German ; but they are 
now gradually adopting the more comprehensive and 
more suitable name of Indo-European. " That term, " 
says Mr. Prichard, who has so ably vindicated the chiim 
of the Celtic dialects for admission into the number, "was 
designed to include a class of nations, whose dialects 
are more or less nearly related to the ancient language of 
India. This discovery was originally made by comparing 
the Sanskrit with the Greek and Latin. A very consi- 



* Sir W. Jones' Dissertation on the Hindoos. 
^ Art. " Wilkins' Sanskrit Grammar " 



PROGRESS OF PHILOLOGY. 21 

derable number of words were found to be common to 
these languages, and a still more striking affinity was 
proved to exist between the grammatical forms respect- 
ively belonging to them. It is difficult to determine 
which idiom, the Latin or the Greek, approaches most 
nearly to the Sanskrit, but they are all evidently branches 
of one stem. It was easily proved, that the Teutonic as 
well as the Sclavonian dialects, and the Lettish or Lithu- 
anian, which are in some respects intermediate between 
the former, stand nearly in the same relation to the ancient 
language of India. Several intermediate languages, as the 
Zend and other Persian dialects, the Armenian and the 
Ossete, which is one of the various idioms spoken by the 
nations of Caucasus, have been supposed by writers, who 
have examined their structure and etymology, to belong to 
the same stock. Thus a near relation was proved to sub- 
sist between a considerable number of dialects spoken by 
nations who are spread over a great part of Europe and 
Asia. It may be remarked, that the more accurate the 
examination of these languages has been, the more exten- 
sive and deeply rooted their affinity has been discovered to 
be. Those who are acquainted with Professor Jacob 
Grimm's able and lucid Analysis of the Teutonic Idioms, 
will fully admit the truth of this remark. The historical 
inference hence deduced is, that the European nations, 
who speak dialects referrible to this class of languages, are 
of the same race with the Indians and other Asiatics, to 
whom the same observation may be applied ; and this con- 
clusion seems to have been admitted by writers who in 
general have displayed little indulgence towards the vision- 
ary speculations of philologists ^" 

"^ Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations, p. 17. 



22 SANSKRir, ZEND, PERSIAN. 

I have already alluded to the opinion that Sanskrit was 
not native to India, but proceeded thither from Iran; it 
should, therefore, be classed with the other Iranian lan- 
guages, the old Median and Persian. Iran, as defined by 
Sir W. Jones and Malte Brun, was bounded on the east 
by the Indus, on the west by the Euphrates, on the north 
by the Caspian Sea, and on the south by the Indian Ocean. 
In this great tract of country, as far back as we can trace 
in history, were spoken three distinct but cognate lan- 
guages; viz., Sanskrit in the north-east, Median in the 
north-west, and Persian in the south. Of these Iranian 
dialects, the Sanskrit had no direct communication with 
Europe; but proceeded, as we have seen, eastward into 
India, where it gave birth to the existing Sanskrit dialects, 
Hindostanee, Bengalee, &c. which I shall call collectively 
the Irano-Indian, in contradistinction to the Scytho-Indian 
dialects of the former inhabitants. On the other hand, the 
old Median or Zend, and old Persian or Parsi, extended 
westward, and are the elder sisters of all our European 
idioms. 

Zend, Although some Zend writings had been made 
known in Europe by Hyde, Bourchier, and Eraser, early 
in the eighteenth century, they served only as mysterious 
objects of literary curiosity ; it was reserved for the zeal 
of Anquetil du Perron to dissipate the gloom, and draw 
forth the information they were calculated to aiford. So 
intent was he on the execution of his design, that at the 
age of twenty- three he entered as a private soldier in an 
expedition which was then fitting out for India (1754). 
At Surat, by means of two Desturs or Magi, he was 
enabled to make himself acquainted with Zend and Pehlvi, 
and thus effected the great object of his ambition, a trans- 



SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN. 23 

lation of the sacred books of the Parsees. His work imme- 
diately gave rise to a warm controversy : it was questioned 
whether Zend could lay any claim to the character of a 
real language, and should not rather be considered as a 
factitious compound for the use of the priests. The dis- 
pute is now set at rest by the known affinity of Zend with 
Russian and Lithuanian, and must be looked on in the 
same light as would a learned controversy among the Par- 
sees on the Vulgate of the Latin Church : from an igno- 
rance of the modern Roman dialects, Italian, French, 
Spanish, these might as naturally contend that the sacred 
books of the Nazarenes were written in an artificial idiom, 
which had been the language of no people upon earth, and 
was known only to their Desturs or priestly caste. 

More recently, the celebrated linguist Rask made an 
inland journey over Caucasus, through Persia, to India, 
for the same purposes, and with the same success, as 
Anquetil. Rask's wonderful knowledge of languages 
enabled him to bring to the investigation of these Zend 
writings an extraordinary share of critical and philological 
skill, in which his predecessor was unfortunately deficient : 
the industrious application of these advantages completely 
convinced him of the genuineness of these ancient docu- 
ments, and of the reality of their language, and brought 
him to acquiesce in the original positions of Anquetil : 

(1.) That Zend was the old language of Media ; 

(2.) That certain books composed in it were the genuine 
works of Zoroaster. 

On any mention of the Zend language, the Comparative 
Grammar of Franz Bopp cannot be overlooked, of which 
Zend forms the most material and characteristic portion. 
Of this work and its author. Pott observes : " The master 



24 SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN. 

in philology, who first brought the Germans to a more 
accurate acquaintance with Sanskrit, has here thrown open 
to the world the secret gates to the Zend tongue; a know- 
ledge of which, as we can with certainty foresee, will shed 
over the dark history and ethnography of Western Asia 
such a light as will unsparingly put to the rout a variety 
of theories and erroneous views *." It was 'a knowledjje 
of Sanskrit that first aflforded an insight into the general 
affinity which exists between the Indians and Europeans : 
an acquaintance with Zend will enable us to classify the 
minuter shades of particular affinities, and to give a more 
exact view of the early history of some important members 
of the Indo-European family. 

Persian. As Persian, the proper language of Parsistan 
and Carmania, belongs to the same family as Zend and 
Sanskrit, and contains many words in common with them, it 
follows as a natural consequence, that some Persian words 
are found in all the idioms of Europe ; but in its peculiar 
character, as distinguished from Zend and Sanskrit, the 
Persian is more nearly related to Greek and German, than 
to any other European language. The affinity of German 
with Persian seems to have been first pointed out by Fr. 
Raphelengius, in the sixteenth century; not long after, 
Salmasius added the Greek; and in chapters ii. — iv. 
of his treatise de Lingua Hellenistica, he has made some 
able remarks on the affinity of the Greek, German, and 
Persian languages ^ Dorn, in his recent essay (18'27) to 
prove the affinity of the Persian, German, and Greco- Latin 
languages, says : " It is not to be expected that Persian 

^ Etymologische Forschungen, vol. i. p. x. 

' Dorn uber die Verwandtschaft dcs Persischen, Germanischen und 
Griechisch-Lateinischen Sprachstaramcs, pp. 93-96. 



SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN. '25 

should correspond only with the present cultivated German, 
since this is itself at present very different from what it was 
formerly even in Germany; we must, therefore, take into 
consideration the Danish, English, Gothic, &c." (p. 28.) 
It seems, however, to be forgotten, that both Low and High 
German have proceeded equally through the different de- 
grees of cultivation, without losing their distinctive charac- 
ters : the Low German, in its rude as well as in its more 
refined state, has a close relation to Latin and Zend ; and 
the High German, throughout the same stages, has pre- 
served its affinity to Greek and Persian. When Dorn, 
therefore, with others, makes use of Zend and Pehlvi under 
the Persian, of Gothic and Danish under the German, of 
jEolic and Latin under the Greek tongue, he does little 
more than illustrate an acknowledged principle, the generad 
affinity of the Indo-European languages; and this seems 
to have been a principal object of his work : but I think 
there is reason for suspecting a closer and more particular 
connexion of Persian with classical or Perso-Greek and 
High German. The Goths can be traced back to the 
Palus Mseotis and the Tanais, where Zend has left strong 
marks of itself in the Russian language of the present day ; 
and it is remarkable enough, that a considerable tribe of 
Persians in the time of Herodotus (i. 125) were called 
Germanii, whilst the modern language of Persia shews a 
close affinity to the present High German in the heart of 
Europe. 

The German philologist. Pott, in controverting the old 
opinion that the High Germans are lineally descended from 
the Persians, observes, that " the similarity of sound in 
Germania and Carmania will prove nothing, until the 
names of the two countries are shown to be etymologic-ally 



26 SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN. 

related ; and he adds, that in case the Sarmatians were the 
forefathers of the Sclavonians, these last have a much 
stronger claim than the Germans to a close affinity with 
the Persians : Sarmatae, Medorum ut ferunt soboles, Plin. 
H. N. vi. 7. ; and this idea is farther confirmed by the 
regular substitution of s for h in Sclavonian, as in Zend 
and Persian, &c." vol. ii. p. 519. No on^, I believe, 
attempts to deny that there is an affinity between Zend 
and Sclavonian ; but I wish to keep more clearly in view 
the original distinction between Zend and Persian ; and to 
maintain, upon more reasonable grounds, the old opinion 
of a nearer affinity between High German and Persian. 
On the first point, it is enough to state a single fact with 
respect to the two alphabets ; it is remarkable, says Bopp, 
p. 43, that the letter / is wanting in Zend, as r is in the 
Chinese, whilst I is forthcoming in new Persian words, 
which are not of Semitic origin. On the other point, of a 
near affinity between High German and Persian, although 
it is confessed that the older philologists have often rested 
their proofs on the untenable ground of apparent coinci- 
dences, yet there is good authority for asserting, that some 
of their arguments have been substantiated on scientific 
grounds, and therefore are not open to the ridicule which 
Pott has deservedly heaped upon the older mode of pro- 
ceeding. New Persian words, says Bopp, p. 278, have 
often been compared with new German, and in many cases 
correctly so; but that, in the High German "worter" 
words, the final syllable er is etymologically related to the 
neuter plural termination ha in Persian, could not have 
been imagined without the assistance of Sanskrit and 
Zend. 

In the same passage, p. 27t<, Bopp remarks, that, "in 



SANSKRIT, ZEND, PERSIAN. 27 

new Persian, the plural ending an, which is confined to 
living objects, is identical with the Sanskrit termination an 
of the accusative plural in masculine nouns ; just as in 
Spanish the whole plural number has the termination of 
the Latin accusative." The want of inflexions in modern 
Persian is owing, I conceive, not to any original character 
of the language itself, but to the circumstance that it has 
continued in a living state, and subject to the fluctuations 
inevitably induced in a course of ages : the Sanskrit and 
Zend, on the contrary, fell into disuse at a more perfect 
stage of their existence, and have therefore preserved 
nearly all the fulness of their original forms. In modern 
Persian, as in most modern languages, the conjugation of 
verbs is efi*ected by auxiliaries, huden, schoden, to be, and 
chasten, about to be : what might have been its state during 
its most flourishing condition, or during the ruder ages of 
its existence, at which stage the grammatical forms of a 
language are always most strongly marked, we have no 
means of knowing; but, from the analogy of other lan- 
guages, we are compelled to suppose that at one time it 
must have been much more amply furnished than at pre- 
sent. In modern Greek, the verbs ex(o, O^Xo), e/unroptD, as 
auxiliaries, have superseded almost all the ancient inflex- 
ions ; and the eye is shocked with such forms as s^cj ypa\pu 
I have written, tiBeXa jpaxj^et I would write : now if we 
possessed no Greek writings of an older date than the 
Romaic, who could possibly have divined the varied fulness 
and exquisite structure found in the works of classical 
authors. The oldest Persian writings reach back no far- 
ther than the ninth century, whilst the latest in Sanskrit 
and Zend extend at least several centuries before the 
Christian era : the Persian, therefore, of the ninth century, 

12 



28 MEDO-EUROPEAN 

and that of the Zend period, may have varied after the 
same manner, and to the same extent, as modern English 
differs from Anglo-Saxon. 

The Zend and Parsi are of kindred origin with Sanskrit, 
and are known to contain many words in common with it ; 
the first, however, is much more nearly related to Sanskrit 
than the other. These two languages, the Z^nd and Parsi, 
which issued from the west of Iran, and spread over 
Europe in a modified form, I shall call Irano-European, in 
opposition to Irano-Indian ; and make a farther subdivi- 
sion of their various European dialects into Medo-European 
and Perso-European. From this classification of the Euro- 
pean languages, we arrive at once, without any farther 
investigation, at two very remarkable and important 
results : — 

(1.) As the Median empire arose much earlier than the 
Persian, it is probable that Media was in a condition to 
throw off swarms for the occupation of Europe at an earlier 
date than Persia ; and, consequently, that the Medo-Euro- 
pean languages would be more ancient and more numerous 
than the Perso-European. To take a particular example : 
Arndt has remarked, from the situation of the Low German 
dialects towards the North- West of Europe, that they must 
be of greater antiquity than the central High German : 
and this is the conclusion to which I have been led by the 
division of these idioms into Medo-Gerraan and Perso- 
German. 

(2.) As the relation of Zend to Sanskrit is very intimate, 
and that of Parsi much more distant, it is a natural result 
that the Medo-European languages should contain Sanskrit 
roots and forms in much greater number than the Perso- 
European idioms. By means of this principle, 1 have 



AND PERSO-EUROPEAN IDIOMS. 29 

been able to reduce to order, and combine under one law, 
the several insulated facts incidentally mentioned by philo- 
logists. I shall here add a few of them, which I have col- 
lected from various authors; but as they would present 
only a mass of confusion without some clue to guide us, I 
must premise that the Medo-European languages consist 
of the Sclavonian, Lithuanian, Latin, Gothic, Low Ger- 
man, and Erse; and that High German, Greek, and 
Welsh form the Perso-European class. 

Frederick Schlegel states, that Low German is highly 
deserving of the attention of philologists, as it retains more 
of Sanskrit forms than High German '° : to the same pur- 
pose is the observation of Bopp, p. 35, that the oldest 
forms of German (the Gothic) are more similar to Sanskrit 
than to Persian. 

" Let me observe," says Mr. Halhed in his Bengal 
Grammar, " that as the Latin is an earlier dialect than the 
Greek as we now have it, so it bears much more resem- 
blance to the Sanskrit both in words, inflexions, and termi- 
nations." Sir W. Jones too, speaking of a work which he 
rendered into English, informs us that he began with 
translating it verbally into Latin, " which," he adds, " bears 
so great a resemblance to the Sanskrit, that it is more con- 
venient than any other language for a scrupulous inter- 
lineary version." 

" It is a curious phenomenon," says Arndt, on the Euro- 
pean languages, p. 88, " that the High German, which 
has ever been cultivated after Roman models, should 
approach in its structure much nearer to the Greek ; whilst 
the Russian, which in earlier times was formed upon the 

'" Uber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier, p. 8. 



30 MEDO-EUROPEAN 

Greek, bears a striking similarity to Latin : the explana- 
tion of this phenomenon must be sought in remote anti- 
quity." In another place, p. 106, he says, that "the 
Latin and Sclavonian words which occur in German, 
belong in much greater proportion to the Low German 
than to the High German dialects." 

" To show the German origin of the Lann language, 
we must not confine ourselves," says Jakel, " to the pre- 
sent High German, but must include the sister dialects of 
Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Holland and England ; but 
more especially the mother tongues, the Gothic, Prankish, 
and Anglo-Saxon ; these differ in many respects from our 
modern High German, but at the same time they approach 
infinitely nearer to the Latin : indeed, it may be laid down 
as a general position, that the Low German has a much 
closer affinity to Latin than the High German "." 

By referring to the table of languages given above, even 
the reader to whom this subject is new, may perceive an 
unity of principle in these various remarks, and see the 
foundation on which they all rest. The facts themselves 
not only receive light from the division of the European 
idioms into two classes, but also afford evidence to the 
reality of such a distinction. 

Herodotus plainly intimates that the various tribes from 
the head of the Adriatic, and north of the Danube, were of 
Median origin. He says, that nothing certain is known 
concerning the people in the north of Thrace. The country 
beyond the Danube is a wild and undefined space ; its only 
inhabitants, as far £is I have been able to learn, are the 
Sigynnse, a people who in dress resemble the Medes ; their 

1' Der Germanische Ursprung der Latcinischen Spraclie und dcs Romis- 
chen Volkes, p. 16. 



AND PERSO-EUROPEAN IDIOMS. 31 

horses are small, but when yoked to a car, they are 
remarkable for their speed, for which reason cars are very 
common among them. The boundaries of this people 
extend almost to the Heneti on the Adriatic. They call 
themselves a colony of the Medes: how Medes reached 
this country, I am not able to say; though, in a long 
course of time, it is quite possible, (v. 9.) 

It appears from Strabo, lib. xi., that the very oldest 
authors, long before the age of Herodotus, drew the same 
line of demarcation as this historian ; for it was their prac- 
tice to comprehend all tribes to the north of the Adriatic, 
Danube, and Euxine, under the general name of Hyper- 
boreans, Sauromatse, and Arimaspi '^ Now the Sauromatae 
are generally allowed to have been an ancient branch of 
the Sclavonian family; and Diodorus Siculus (ii. 89.) ex- 
pressly assigns them a Median origin : the title of Hyper- 
boreans seems to have been a more general one, but I shall 
afterwards show that there are very particular reasons for 
comprehending under it the Lithuanians and Old Prussians, 
whose dialects are closely allied to the Sclavonian and 
Zend. As to the Arimaspi, they were only a particular 
tribe of the Hyperboreans : kpifxaairoL, eOvog 'Yirepl^opEwv, 
Steph. Byzant. 

If, therefore, a line be drawn from the head of the 
Adriatic across to the Danube, and along the course of 
that river to the Black Sea, we perceive that all the tribes 
beyond that line were considered by the ancients as 
genuine descendants of the Medes: the tribes that fall 
within that line were exposed to an admixture with Per- 
sian races, in times perhaps beyond the reach of history, 

'2 See Ritter's Vorhalle, p. 464. 



32 MEDO-EUROPEAN, &C. IDIOMS. 

but we discover marks of the event in the languages which 
arose from it. 

This account may suffice to render intelligible, and to 
establish in a general way, my arrangement of the Euro- 
pean idioms under two great classes of distinct but kindred 
origin: additional arguments, in support of this division, 
will be brought forward during the progress of the work. 

For facility of reference, I shall repeat here the list of 
the two sets of languages : — 

Medo-European : — Sclavonian, Lithuanian, Latin, Low 
German, and Erse. 

Per so-European : — Greek, High German, and Welsh. 



CHAPTER III. 



TABLE OF LANGUAGES I PREFIXES I GRIMM S LAW I 
RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 

In this chapter I propose to present the reader with an 
outline of the countries over which he will have to travel, 
and which occupy the extensive space lying between the 
western extremities of Europe and the river Indus. Some 
marks also will be pointed out, which will enable him, at 
any point of his wide course, to know something of the 
people among whom he may have arrived. To the Geolo- 
gist, the materials of the road on which he is passing, or the 
outline of the hills which may rise in the distance, will often 
aflford a general idea of the nature of the district in which 
he then is, and show the relative antiquity of its formations 
compared with those of the countries which he has left 
behind ; as the appearance of a cross or a crescent on the 
public edifices would make known the religion of the people. 
In like manner, some means of forming a judgment con- 
cerning the people with whom he is at the moment con- 
versant, are supplied to the Philologist in the particular 

D 



34 TABLE OF LANGUAGES. 

form of the words which are used by the inhabitants. Thus 
the Russian people of the Sclavonian family belong to the 
Medo-European division, as may be decided from the very 
appearance of some of their words ; e. g. browi, eyebrow : 
to express this idea the Greeks have substituted ^ for h, 
and added the prefix o ; the Greek o-(f>pvg, therefore, be- 
longs to the Perso-European division, and is a more recent 
formation than the Russian browi. 

Tadle of Languages. — The languages of which we are 
about to treat, will be more perspicuously viewed under the 
following tabular arrangement : — 

IRANIAN. 

Sanskrit, Zend, Persian. 

IRANO-INDIAN. 

Sanskrit, Hindostanee, Bengalee. 

IRANO-EUROrEAN. 

Zend, Persian, Sclavonian, Lithuanian, German, Celtic. 

Each of tlie four great European families contains a 
variety of subordinate languages and dialects : — 

SCLAVONIAN. 

Russian, Servian, Croatian, Wendish, &c. 

LITHUANIAN. 

Lithuanian Proper, Lettish, Old Prussian, Latin. 

GERMAN. 

LOWER GERMAN. 

Gothic, Scandinavian, Dutch, English, &c. 

UPPER GERMAN. 

Old, Middle, and New High German, Greek. 

CELTIC. 

Erse, Gaelic, Welsh, Ba« Breton, Basque. 



PREFIXES. 85 

Division of Letters. — The letters called mutes are divided 
into three classes — labial, lingual, and guttural — according 
to the organ that is employed in pronouncing them ; and 
each class is farther subdivided, according to the nature of 
the pronunciation, into soft or tenues, medial, and aspirate, 
as is briefly shown in the following table : — 

Tenues. Medial. Aspirate. 

Labials, p b ph. 

Linguals, t d th. 

Gutturals, k g kh. 

Prefixes. — When a few Greek words like o-^ovTig, a- 
juLeXyu), were compared solely with the corresponding Latin 
terms denies, mulgeo, the supernumerary Greek vowels 
were thought to be sufficiently explained by the epithet 
prosthetic, which was applied to them. Afterwards the 
circle of languages compared became enlarged, and the 
words with prosthetic vowels were found to be very nume- 
rous ; in consequence, more attention was paid to this point, 
and the prefixes are now considered as fragments of signifi- 
cant particles in composition with the root itself. I do not 
propose here to follow out the subject in this point of view, 
but merely throw out as a conjecture, that prefixes may be 
characteristic of classes of languages ; for it is remarkable, 
that the prefix ge, which is so common in the High or 
Perso-German, does not occur in the Scandinavian or in 
the Old Low German dialects : see chapter on the German. 

A-vYip, Sabine, nero; Skr. narah; Zend, nairya. 
a-o-rrjp, H. G. ge-stirn ; Lat. Stella, stera ; Zend, staro. 
E-Xa^vg, Scand. lagur ; Scl. laghii ; Skr. laghus. 
£-p£vyw, Lat. ructo ; Scl. ruigaiu ; Lett. rugt. 
£-pe(j)eiv, A.-Sax. reofan ; o-po(j>og, Engl. roof. 

d2 



36 grimm's law. 

£-pv6pogi Litli. ruddas ; Lett, ruds; Engl, ruddy. 
O-Sovrccj dentes ; Lith. dantis ; Skr. dantas. 
o-vofxa, nomen; Goth, namo; Skr. and Zend, naman. 
o-vvx^Qi Scl. nogot ; Lith. nagas ; Skr. nakhas. 
o-^pucj Scl. browi; Scand. bra; Skr. bhrus. 

Grimm's Law. — I now proceed wdth the consideration of 
Grimm's important law, to which I have several times 
alluded, concerning the regular interchange of certain 
letters in different languages ; but as Franz Bopp has 
recently extended the same law to Zend and Lithuanian, 
which are important languages for the illustration of the 
early history of Italy, I shall extract the account of it from 
his learned " Comparative Grammar," p. 78. 

The German family of languages exhibits a remarkable 
law in the interchange of certain consonants ; according to 
it, all the Lower German dialects when compared with 
Greek, Latin, and, under certain limitations, when com- 
pared with Sanskrit and Zend also, substitute aspirates in 
the place of the primitive tenues, h for k, th for t, andy for 
p ; tenues in the place of medials, ^ for ^ p for b, and k 
for ff ; lastly, medials in the place of aspirates, ^ for ch, d 
for th, and b for f. Upper German holds the same relation 
to Gothic, as this does to Greek, and uses aspirates for the 
Gothic tenues and Greek medials ; tenues for the Gothic 
medials and Greek aspirates; and medials for the Gothic 
aspirates and Greek tenues. 

Exceptions. — The Old High German substitutes v for b, 
and z:=its for th ; this is the regular usage : there are also a 
few cases in which Old High German uses the Gothic h 
and g for its own proper g and k. As the Gothic has no 
aspirate of A, it uses, instead of kh, either the Sanskrit h, or 



GRIMM S LAW. 



37 



the Old High German g. The Latin, also, has no aspirate 
of A, and substitutes for ^ the Sanskrit A, and, in a few 
cases, the Gothic g : compare yjcifxwVi hiems, Skr. hima : 
X^fC (x^^^'Oj ^^^i (hesternus), Skr. hyas : Xetx^j lingo, 
Goth, laigo, Skr. lih. 

The following table, given by Grimm (vol. i. p. 584), 
affords a brief summary of the particulars of his law : — 

Labials. Linguals. Gutturals. 

Greek, p b f. t d th. k g ch. 



Gothic, 


f 


p b. 


th t 


d. 


... k g. 


O.H. Germ. b(v) 


If p. 


d z 


t. 


g ch k. 






EXAMPLES K 






Skr. 


Gr. 


Lat. 




Goth. 


0. H. Germ. 


Padas 


TToSfC 


pedes 




fotus 


VUOZ 


panc'an 


TTEjUTTE 


quinque 




fimf 


vinf 


purna 


ttXcoc 


plenus 




fulls 


vol 


pi tar 


Trarrjp 


pater 




fad rein 


vatar 


upari 


VTT^Q 


super 




ufar 


ubar 


b'ang' 




frangere 
Cfrui, } 




brikan 


prechan 


b'ug' 




I'fructus} 




brukon 


pruchon 


b'ratar 




frater 




brothar 


pruoder 


bar 


(l>ep(x) 


fero 




baira 


piru 


b'ru 


o(l)pvg 








prawa 


kapala 


KE(paXr} 


caput 




haubith 


houpit 


tvam 


TV 






thu 


du 


tam 


TOV 


is-tum 




thana 


den 


trayas 


Tpug 


tres 




threis 


dri 


antara 


hepog 


alter 




anthar 


andar 


dan tam 


ocovra 


dentem 




thuntus 


Zand 



' For the contractions and the notation used in this and the following- 
chapters, see the list at the end of the table of Contents. 



8 




grimm's law. 






Skr. 


Gr. 


Lat. 


Goth. 


0. H. Germ 


dvau 


^vo 


duo 


tvai 


zuene 


daks'iiia 


Sf?m 


d extra 


taihsvo 


zesawa 


uda 


V^(jjp 


unda 


vato 


wazar 


duhitar 


dvyarrip 




dauhtar 


tohtar 


dvar 


Ovpa 


fores 


daur 


tor 


mad'u 


fJLiOv 




r 


meto 


svan 


KVIOV 


canis 


hunths 


hund 


hardaya 


Kap^ia 


cor 


liairto 


herza 


aks'a 


OKOC 


oculus 


augo 


ouga 


asru 


SaKpv 


laerima 


tagr 


zahar 


pasu 




peeus 


faihu 


vihu 


svasura 


ficupoc 


socer 


svaihra 


suehur 


dasan 


^£Ka 


decern 


taihun 


zehan 


g'na 


yvw/ii 


gnosco 


kan 


chan 


g'ati 


jEvog 


genus 


kuni 


chuni 


ganu 


yovv 


genu 


kniu 


chniu 


maliat 


juLtyaXoi' 


magnus 


mikils 


mihil 


hansa 


X^^ 


anser 


gans 


kans 


hyas 


X0ac 


heri 


gistra 


kestar 


lih 


\elXU) 


lingo 


laigo 


lekom 



With respect to the distinctive use of the consonants in 
question, the Lithuanian^ ranks with the elder languages, 
Sanskrit and Latin : e. g. 

Lith. Sansk. 

ratas, rota rat'as 

busu, I shall be b avis'yaini 

kas, quis kas 

dumi, I give dadami 



^ Only, in Lithuanian, there are no aspirates ; hence our mode of spelling 
the name is evidently incorrect. By the natives the country is called Lietuwa. 



GRIMM S LAW. 




Lith. 


Sanskr. 


pats, potis 


patis 


penki, quinque 


panc'an 


trys, tres 


trayas 


keturi, quatuor 


c'atvaras 


ketwirtas, quartus 


c'aturt'as 


szaka, branch 


saka 



39 



There are a few points of similarity in the use of 
mutes, between Zend and Gothic, which Bopp has explained 
as exceptions, owing to the particular character of Zend ; 
but among the families of languages, Zend decidedly ranks 
with Sanskrit, Latin, and Lithuanian, and as clearly differs 
from the Gothic : — 



Gothic. 


Zend. 


thu, thou 


tum 


fidvor, four 


c'athwaro 


iimf, live 


panc'a 


fulls, full 


pereno 


fadrein, parentes 


paitarem (patrem) 


faths, master 


paitis 


faihu, cattle 


pasus 


farjith, he fareth 


c'araiti 


fotus, foot 


padha 


fraihith, he asketh 


peresaiti 


ufar, over 


upairi 


thai, these 


te 


hvas, who 


ko 


tvai, two 


dva 


taihun, ten 


dasa 


taihsvo, dexter 


das'ina 



Now if we suppose that this class of letters, the mutes, 



40 RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF 

in passing from an older to a newer dialect, have a natural 
tendency to change their aspirates into medials, medials 
into tenues, and tenues into aspirates, we must conclude that 
the Old High German is younger in age than the Gothic, 
for it is one step farther advanced in the order of these 
changes ; and that the Gothic is more recent than Lithu- 
anian, Latin, Zend, and Sanskrit, for the Gothic is still one 
step in advance of those ancient languages '. 

It may have been observed, that, on every occasion of 
mentioning the older languages in this chapter, I have 
always omitted naming the Greek : 1 excluded it from that 
class by design, and shall now set forth the reasons that 
induced me to do so. 

In the table expressing the law of the change of conso- 
nants, Bopp and Grimm have taken Greek as the repre- 
sentative of the older set of languages ; although many of 
their own examples point out clearly that proper Greek 
holds only the same low rank as the Old High German : 

Gr. O. H. G. 

o-tppvg prawa 

X^v kans 

XEi\b) lekom 

These exceptions, and numerous others which I have added 
below, certainly call in question the high pretensions of 
Greek, and require notice : it was the solution of this diflS- 
culty, with some other reasons, that induced me, in the 
table of languages, to place Greek in company with Old 
High German. In fact, the Greek words that follow 
Grimm's law, as ^f£foc, v^wp, &c. only do so from their 

' See Quarterly Review, vol. L. p. 170. ait. 'Grimm's Deutsche Gram - 
matik.' 



Gr. 


0. H. G. 


OvyaTrip 


tohtar 


Bvpa 


tor, thur 


fiedv 


meto, meth 



EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 41 

relation to Latin as constituting the Latin part of Greek, 
and are Medo-Grecian ; they are therefore necessarily 
included under Latin, and rank with the other older lan- 
guages, Sanskrit, Zend, and Lithuanian ; whilst the Greek 
words which appear to be exceptions to that law, as 
OvyaTYjp, o(l)pvQ, &c. are Perso- Grecian, and rank with 
the more recent High German ^. 

The conclusion we may draw, at the present stage of the 
inquiry, from our chronological scale of letters, is as fol- 
lows : that Latin and Lithuanian tribes probably entered 
Europe at an earlier period than the Goths, but that the 
Goths are of greater philological antiquity than the Old 
High Germans and Perso-Grecians. 

I beg that no one will here charge me with the folly of 
asserting that the historical Goths are of greater European 
antiquity than the classical Greeks. I shall leave the 
Goths to fight their own battle ; it being clearly under- 
stood that, under that name, I speak of the oldest Low- 
German tribes — the Scandinavians, old Frisians, old Low 
Saxons, — and do not refer to the Mseso-Goths of later 
Roman history : these were probably a younger, and cer- 
tainly were a diflferent, people from the former, as is 
plainly proved by the use of the prefix ge or (/a by the 
Mseso-Goths, which is unknown to the others. I forbear 
proceeding farther with this part of the inquiry ; but as the 
relative antiquity of Latin and Greek is rather a novel sub- 
ject of discussion to English readers, and as it illustrates 
the general principle in reference to other languages also, 
I shall dwell on it a little more at large : I shall first give 
my own law, which excludes Greek from the older class of 

* A similar phenomenon appears in Gothic : see ch. on German. 



42 RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF 

languages, and then add some remarks of the learned 
philologist Pott in illustration of this particular point. 

It may be laid down as a general law, that where the 
Medo-European languages make use of medials, either 
tenues or aspirates will be found in the corresponding 
terms in Perso-Grecian and Old High or Perso-German. 
This assertion can be proved only by a defiled series of 
particular examples under each of the three classes of 
letters, which I now proceed to give : 

Labials : h — p ov ph. 
Skr. b'rus, brow ; iScl. browi ; Scand. bra o-<povq, prawa 
Skr. bib'emi ; Lith. bijoti ; O. Pr. bia-twei 



■} 



O.Sax.bivo„ ,^-^,a.,p.pmon 

Skr. nab'is ; Lett, nabba ; Lat. umb-ihcus o/xci-aXo, napalo 
Skr. nab'as ; hcl. nebo ; Lat. nebula ; Lith. j ^.^^^^^^ ^^^^^ 

debbesis ; Lett, debbes * J 

Skr. b'urg'g'a; Scl. bereza; Lith. berszas;"^ . . 

Lett, behrse ; Engl, birch-tree | 

Lat. orb-US, ambo up(^-avoq, ayLpw 

Lintruals : d — t ox th. 



Skr, dars' ; Scl. drz. ; Lith. drasus ; Engl 



, . 9pa<rvc, Qaopuv, taron 






Skr. dvara ; Scl. dver ; Lith. durrys ; Lett. 

durris (^0.-pa,tor,thur 

Skr. duhitar ; Scl. dotsher; Lith. dukter;! 

O.Pr.duckti |0t7«-'JP>tohtar 

^ Scl. Ijudi; Lith. liaudis ; Goth, laudeis ; 1 Xt trt, \tvQt 

A.-Sax. leod J liuti, leute 

Skr. madhu; Scl. med; Lith. medus; Lett.") 

, , ^ , , > uf 01', meto, meth 

meddus ; Engl, mead J 



^ In Lithuanian, d for w, as in the numeral nhw : see the Vocabulary. 
^ This set of words signifies people : the Greek form \iv9i. will be 
explained at the end of this chapter. 



EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 43 



Scl. rdjti; Lith. ruddas; Lett, ruds; Engl. 1 _^^^g^^^_ ^^^^^ ^„^1^^„ 
ruddy J 

Skr. ud'as; Lith. udroja; A.-Sax. uder;") 

>ov9ap, euter 
Engl, udder J 



Gutturals : (/ and h — k or kh. 



Skr. lag'us ; Scl. lagan ; Lith. lengwas ; ") 

>£-\a 

Engl, light J 



XVQi leicht 



Skr. lih ; Lat. lingere ; Goth, laigon X"X'^j ^eko 

Skr. hyas ; Lat. hesternus ; Goth, gistra x^^Q^ kestar 

Skr. hansa; Lat.anser; Scl. gansior; Engl. W,;j/, kans 

gander J 

Skr. meg'a; Scl. mgla; Lith. and Lett. (o-jLiixXa 

migla J 

Skr. ahis ; Lat. anguis ; Lith. angis ; Scand. ] 

eglir J 

Now if Grimm, p. 582, has good reason for asserting that 
Old High German is the younger and weaker, and Gothic 
the older condition of the German tongue, it must neces- 
sarily follow that Perso-Grecian is the younger, and Medo- 
Grecian or Latin the older condition of the classic lan- 
guage, although the common mode of proceeding hitherto 
has been to derive Latin from the Greek. 

" An opinion prevailed for a long time," says Pott, " but 
very erroneously, that Latin is a daughter, or at least a 
derivative, of the Greek language ; and it is still asserted 
that Latin is a compound of various elements, of which 
Greek constitutes the largest portion; with just as much 
reason, i. e. with just no reason at all, it might be asserted 
that the Greek language is composed of Latin and some 
foreign elements. I suspect that the number of Greek 
words naturalized in Latin is exaggerated far beyond the 
actual extent ; and as to the opinion that the i3j]olic dialect 

12 



44 RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF 

is more ancient than Latin, the direct contrary is much 
nearer the truth ; for though the Roman idiom is not nearly 
so copious as its classical neighbour, yet it has preserved 
its structure and inflexions much nearer to the primeval 
form." — Vol. i. p. xxviii. 

" In determining a chronological arrangement of corre- 
sponding words in the related languages, it is clear that we 
cannot, any more than in geology, treat of such short 
periods as a year or a day : the latest works in the Doric 
dialect contain many antique forms of words, of which there 
is no longer any trace in Homer. The remark here made 
with respect to dialects, is applicable also to related idioms, 
which are only dialects in a higher sense. Among the 
Indo-European languages, the Sanskrit, as to its general 
character, may justly boast of the highest antiquity; but 
for insulated points, each idiom of the whole series can lay 
claim to the same honour ; since each of them has retained, 
without any deviation from the original form, single words, 
which in the other languages have undergone a process of 
change. Even the Sanskrit itself shows marks of such 
alteration. The coincidence of many related but inde- 
pendent languages in a single word must be held decisive 
against the correctness of the Sanskrit, or of any individual 
opposing idiom ; yet there are cases, in which the import- 
ance of the single dissentient voice must be allowed to out- 
weigh a conspiring majority of the other related idioms. 
The Greek, however, can lay claim to no such superiority 
over the Latin ; and he is blind who would derive Latin 
out of the certainly much more copious, yet infinitely more 
corrupted, Greek. Some authors, whom I could name, 
assert that an r has been introduced by Epenthesis into 
many Latin words, merely because the corresponding 



EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 45 

Greek terms do not contain that letter. The fact, how- 
ever, is this: in Latin, the letter r stands for a more 
ancient s, which has disappeared entirely out of Greek ; 
e. g. juv-£c for fiva-sQ, Could it have been the German 
maus, mouse, which forced an s into the Sclavonian mysii, 
and Sanskrit musa ? or can we suppose that the more 
ancient Latin form mus-es, preserved by Varro, was derived 
from the later classical mur-es? The opinion that the 
Latin is a daughter or derivative of Greek, never has 
been, and never can be, proved : the two idioms hold the 
relation of sisters ; and it will take much time yet to 
remove from our Latin grammar the numerous absurdities 
which disfigure it, in consequence of the old belief." — Id. 
vol. i. p. 75. 

" On the whole, the structure of Latin is much more 
antique and less fragmentary than that of Greek, even 
in its oldest dialect, the ^olic ; so that the separation 
of the two idioms presupposes a time when Greek had 
undergone less change than in any stage of it with which 
we are acquainted ^ For it is a mere gratuitous assump- 
tion, that the deviation of Latin from Greek was princi- 
pally caused by the operation of other Italian idioms: 
these certainly have supplied the Latin with many words, 
but have exercised little or no influence upon its highly 
regular structure, as appears from a comparison of its 
inflexions with those of the whole Indo-European class : if 
a deviation from the general grammar of the Indo-European 
languages exists to any extent, it shows itself much more 
strongly on the side of Greece than of Rome." — Id. vol. ii. 
p. 435. 

' This condition of the language is what I have ventured to call Medo- 
Grecian : Pott's view is more fully developed in another extract which I 
have given in part iii. ch. 2. 



46 



RELATIVE ANTIQUITY OF 



Franz Bopp, in his latest publication, calls Greek and 
Latin the elder twin sisters of the European portion of the 
Sanskrit idioms; and distinguishes the German, Lettish, 
and Sclavonian, as the younger trio of a subsequent birth. 
(Die jungeren Drillinge, p. 248. ' Vocalismus,' 1836.) 
But as this representation is in direct opposition to the 
views I have gained, and as I shall have occasion, in the 
historical part of this work, to speak of the Sclavonians, 
Lithuanians, Lettons, and Old Prussians, I shall compare 
some words in their dialects with the corresponding 
examples given by Bopp in the other languages, in order 
to show that they lay claim to the same philological pre- 
cedence as the acknowledged elder idioms. 





Scl. 


Lith. Lett, and O.Pr. 


Goth. 


0. H. G. 


five 


piati 


penki 


pienki 


fimf 


vinf 


full 


pelni 


pilnas 


pilns 


fulls 


vol 


thou 


ty 


tu 


tu 


thu 


du 


three 


tri 


trys 


triis 


threis 


dri 


two 


dva 


du 


dvai 


tvai 


zuene 


dexter 


dessna 


deszine 


dessine 


taihsvo 


zesawa 


water 


voda 


vandu 


unds 


vato 


wazar 


daughter 


dotcher 


dukter 


duckter 


dauhtar 


tohtar 


door 


dver 


durrys 


durris 


daur 


tor 


mead 


med 


medus 


meddus 


— 


meto 


heart 


serdze 


szirdis 


ssirds 


hair to 


herza 


eye 


oko 


akis 


ackis 


augo 


ouga 


ten 


desiati 


deszimpt dessimpts 


taihun 


zehan 


people 


liudi 


liaudis 


liaudis 


laudeis 


liuti 


sit 


sideti 


sedeti 


sehdeet 


si tan 


sezan 


other 


— 


antras 


an tars 


anthar 


andar 


dog 


— 


szuns 


ssuns 


hunths 


hund 


tear 


— 


aszara 


assara 


tagr 


zahar 


cattle 


— 


— 


pecku 


faihu 


vihu 


From the above 


examples 


, and others already 


' given. 



EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 47 

is clear that these dialects possess the same relative anti- 
quity as Sanskrit, Zend, and Latin. Now, as on the prin- 
ciple of Grimm's law, we exclude the Perso - Grecians, 
High Germans, and Goths, from among the earliest colo- 
nists of Italy; so, by an extension of the same law, we 
are permitted to look for the settlement of tliat interesting 
question to the other European families, the Sclavonians, 
Lithuanians, Lettons, and Old Prussians : which of these 
nations are to be accounted among the forefathers of the 
ancient Romans will, I hope, be satisfactorily shown after- 
wards on different and independent principles. 

In this chapter, I have produced a Greek word \ev6e as 
the analogous form of the High German leute, 'people'; 
before concluding, I must give my authorities, or rather my 
reasons, for so doing, as the word will certainly not be 
found in the Lexicons. 

It has already appeared that the root of e-pvO-pog is pvO ; 
High German, roth, rothen; Low German, ruddy, redden; 
and I think it will be allowed that the root of e-XevOE-pog 
is \ev9e, ^Eirog, the freemen of a state, the people; High 
German, leute, liuti ; Welsh, Ihwyth ; Scl. liudi ; Lith. 
liaudis; Low Germ, laudeis, leod, lewd. Our English 
word lewd is derived directly from the Anglo-Saxon leod, 
and reached its present meaning through gradual stages of 
descent: (L) freemen, in opposition to serfs; (2.) the laity, 
XiiTog, in contrast with the clergy ; (3.) the lower and 
licentious part of the laity ; (4.) and lastly, from expressing 
licentiousness generally, it has been limited to a particular 
kind, as in its present use. In the third of these stages, 
the word lewd occurs in our authorized version as the trans- 
lation of TTovYipog; "lewd fellows of the baser sort" (Acts 



48 ANTIQUITY OF EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 

xvii. 5); "if it were a matter of wrong or lewdness" 
(xviii. 14.). 

It has been questioned ^ whether the Latin liberum is 
the same word as eXevdepov; but, surely, no doubt can 
remain when we so often see a Latin h in the place of the 
Medo-European d and Perso-Grecian 6 :. e-pv9pov, ru- 
brum, ruddy ; ovOap, uber, udder ; verbum, Goth, vaurd, 
Lith. vardas ; barba, Scl. brada, Lith. barzda. 

* See Pott, vol. i. p. 136, and Bopp's Vocalismus, p. 162. 



CHAPTER IV. 



INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, 

NUMERALS, VERBAL ROOTS. 

The striking features of similarity and diversity which 
exist together in related languages, have caused much 
perplexity to philologists : the principles of their science 
have enabled them successfully to establish the points of 
similarity, but for the explanation of the diversity we must 
recur to a higher source. Not to pass over the subject 
altogether untouched, I shall give, in illustration, two 
extracts from other writers. 

" Numerous Greek and Welsh words are so much alike, 
that they coincide in sound and in signification, and are 
evident proofs of a very ancient affinity between these two 
tongues : how and when such a relation commenced, may 
not now appear. It is easy to say the Britons borrowed 
these terms from the Greeks ; but it is not so easy to show 
the correspondence between the two nations, by means of 
which such a loan might be negotiated in Greece, and the 
goods imported to this island : besides this, the words are 



50 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

of that kind which are the most unlikely of any to have 
ever been borrowed. Persons the fondest of borrowing, 
never borrow their legs or arms ; nor is it probable that 
they should ever borrow the words by which these things 
are signified. Every language and people must have them 
from the beginning ; they cannot do without them any 
more than they can subsist without air or water, or live 
destitute of the most essential parts and members of their 
own bodies. It must seem, therefore, most reasonable to 
conclude, not that one of these tongues is derived from the 
other, but that they are both kindred languages, and pro- 
ceed from one common origin \" 

" We know nothing," says another \^Titer, " concerning 
an original Indo-European language ; but we can easily 
detect a relationship among the members of the Indo- 
European family, and investigate the laws by which each 
is regulated. Different peoples exist in the world in differ- 
ent places, and with languages apparently different ; never- 
theless, between particular nations some secret and myste- 
rious bond does exist, which evidently proves the common 
influence of some law working among them. Although we 
cannot satisfactorily account for the remarkable differences 
between related languages, it is certain that they did not 
arise from chance or caprice ; the hidden spring is, even 
at this late period, found working in them too strongly to 
permit such an idea ; and nothing, in the essential parts 
at least, stands but as it ought to stand. We have no 
grounds for assuming an original language, but what we 
find in the aflfinity of its so called derivatives ; and the law 
of their variation proves indisputably that they could not 

^ Llewelyn's Remarks on the British Tongue, \^69, p. 2.3. 



INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 51 

be derivatives at all ; that they are, on the contrary, ori- 
ginal and individual languages of great internal strictness. 
The objects of science are the laws which do exist, histo- 
rically developed in the outward world; we shall therefore 
look to languages as sisters, whose parent, and the manner 
of whose generation, we believe we cannot know, but the 
manner of whose actual being we are permitted to examine 
and describe ^" 

Assuming then at once the existence of these sister lan- 
guages, I proceed to describe the characteristic marks by 
which they are distinguished. 

The affinity of any class of languages is ascertained by 
a comparison of their vocabularies and grammatical inflex- 
ions : if a general resemblance in these respects is observ- 
able, the languages are shown to be related ; and the proof 
is the more convincing, when the similarity exists in both 
points, and to a considerable extent. The words compared 
should be such as express the most common objects, 
actions, and relations ; and not those only which might be 
introduced by more civilized nations among ruder tribes in 
the course of commerce or of conquest. The resemblance, 
however, need not be evident to the eye, if we can trace 
the history or discover the law of the variation in form or 
meaning : thus we are satisfied that ttoSec? fotus, and vuoz, 
are only necessary modifications of the same word ; whilst 
the terms XtvOe, leute, lewd, have preserved a nearer simi- 
larity of form with a greater variation in meaning. The 
same remark is applicable to the grammatical structure • 
here also a general resemblance is sufficient, if we are able 
to show intermediate forms which connect the unlike 

2 Foreign Quart. Review, vol. x. p. 380. 
E 2 



52 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

inflexions of two languages by means of other related 
idioms, or by the different stages of the same language. 
The grammatical structure of kindred languages often 
differs less, than the Epic inflexions of Archaic Greek vaxy 
from the forms used by the Attic writers, or by the Modern 
Greek. The wider we are able to extend the circle of 
languages, and the better we become acquainted with the 
different stages of particular idioms, the less violent 
becomes the passage from one extreme form to another. 
From the languages contained in Bopp's " Comparative 
Grammar," — the Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, 
Sclavonian, Gothic, and German, — philologists are able to 
conceive an ideal original grammar, from which all the 
Indo-European idioms have deviated, each in its own par- 
ticular way '. 

As a comparison of the grammatical inflexions of the 
Indo-European languages would be too complicated and 
tedious for the purpose of a Manual, I shall confine myself 
to the Vocabulary ; and, for facility of reference, shall 
classify the words under distinct heads. 

Section I. Decrees of Relationship, ^c. 

Man. — Skr. narah ; Z. nairya, ace. narem ; Pers. nar ; 

Sabine, nero (neriene, strength) ; Gr. a-vvp ; Alba- 

niam, neri; Erse, near (neart, strength); Welsh, 

nerthol, strong. 
Skr. viras ; Z. vairya (strong) ; Lith. vyras ; 

Lett, and O. Pr. vyrs ; Lat. vir ; Goth, vairs ; Erse, 

fear; W. gwyr, wyr. 

3 For examples, see Bopp, sect. 435. p. 627., and Annals of Oriental 
Literature, p. 3. 



NOUNS. 53 

Man. — Skr. manus'ya, manawa; Lat. ho-mines, hu-manus; 

Goth, guma, gen. guman ; O. H. Germ, komo, gen. 

komin ; Lith. zmones ; O. Pr. smunents ; Scl. mush, 

monsh ; Germ, mann, mensh. 
Woman. — Skr. g'ani ; Z. gena ; Pers. zenne ; Scl. g'ena ; 

O. Pr. genna; Gr. yuvi; ; Goth, quino, queins; 

O. Engl, quean ; Icel. kona, kuinna ; O. H. Germ. 

chena, chona; Erse, gean. 
Father. — Skr. pitar ; Z. paitai' ; Pers. pader ; Gr. ttutijp ; 

Lat. pater; Scl. bat; Goth, fadrein (parentes) ; 

L. Germ, fader; O. H. Germ, vatar; Erse, athair\ 
Mother. — Skr. matar; Z. matar; Pers. mader; jurjrrjp, 

mater; Scl. mater; Lith. moter (woman), motina 

(mother); Lett, mate ; O. Pr. muti ; Germ, muotar, 

mutter, moder; Erse, mathair. 
Son. — Skr. sunus; Lith. sunus; Scl. syn'; O. Pr. souns; 

Lett, sehns (boy), subdim. shunnis; Goth, sunus; 

Germ. sohn. 
Daughter. — Skr. duhitar ; Z. dughdhar ; Pers. dokhter ; 

Gr. OvyaTTfjp; Scl. dotcher ; Lith. dukter; O. Pr. 

duckti ; Goth, dauhtar ; Germ, tochter ; Erse, dear ; 
Brother. — Skr. b'ratar; Z. bratar; Pers. brader; Lat. 

frater; (pparpa (a fraternity); Scl. brat'; O. Pr. 

brati ; Goth, brothar ; Scand. brodur ; O. H. Germ. 

pruodar ; Germ, bruder ; Erse, brathair ; W. brawd. 
Sister. — Skr. swasar; Lith. sesser ; Scl. sestra; Goth. 

svistar; O. H. Germ, suestar; Erse, suir; Lat. 

soror ; Z. khanhar ; Pers. khuaher ; W. khwaer. 



* In Skr.j Zend, and Lith. many nouns in the Nom. case drop the r, 
which appears in the oblique cases ; e. g. Skr. pita, ace. pitaram ; Z. paita, 
ace. paitavem ; Lith. mote, plur. moteres. — See Bapp, p. 168. flf. 



54 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

Father-in-law. — Skr. swasurah; Lat. socer; eKvpog; Scl. 

svekar ; Lith. szessur ; Goth, svaihra ; Germ. 

schwaeher ; W. chwegrwn ; Corn, huigeren. 
Mother-in-law. — Skr. swasruh; Lat. socnis; Scl. svekru; 

Goth, svaihro ; O. H. Germ, suigar ; W. chwegyr ; 

Corn, hueger. 
Daughter-in-law. — Skr.snus'a; Scl. snocha; A.-Sax. snoru : 

German, schnur; Lat. nurus; wog. 
Brother-in-law. — Skr. devar; Sarjp; levir; Scl. dever; Lith. 

deveris ; Lett, deeveris ; O. H. Germ, zeilihur ; 

A.-Sax. tacor. 
Master and Husband. — Skr. patis ; Z. paitis ; Lith. patis ; 

Lett, and O. Pr. pats; Goth, faths (dux, bruth- 

faths, sponsus), Troo-tcj Dor. Trortc ; Lat. potis, Dii 

potes : in ut-pote, sua-pte, it signifies self, as in 

Lith. pats (ipse, maritus). 
Mistress and wife. — Skr. patni; Lith. patti ; Lett, and O. 

Pr. pattin ; irorvia. Schlegel considers Tiorvia in 

Homer as a substantive : the title of Diana, worvta 

Brjpwv, and the fact that it appears only in the 

feminine, and generally as an adjunct of feminine 

proper names, seem to intimate as much. Edinb, 

Rev. vol. li. p. 469. 
King. — Skr. rag'a; Lat. rex; O. Pr. rikys; Goth, reiks; 

O. H. Germ, rihhi; Erse, righ. 
God. — Skr. devas; Z. daevas; Pers. and Russ. diw (the 

evil spirit) ; Lith. diewas ; Lett, deews ; O. Pr. 

deiws ; Lat. deiis ; Erse, dia ; W. duw : Scand. 

ty-r (/• is the usual sign of the nominative); B^oq. 



NOUNS. 55 



Section II. Parts of the Body, 8fc. 

Eye. — Skr. aks'i ; Z. as'i ; Lith. akis ; O. Pr. ackis ; Lett. 

azs ; Scl. oko ; Lat. ociilus ; Goth, augo ; Germ. 

oge, auge ; Dan. oje. 
Brow. — Skr. b'ru ; Z. bru, bruat ; P. a-bru ; Scl. browi ; 

Scand. bra ; Germ, braue ; Erse, brai ; o-^pvg ; 

O. H. Germ, prawa. 
Nose. — Skr. nasa; Z. nao, naonha; Scl. nos ; Lith. nosis ; 

Scand. nos ; Germ, nase ; Lat. nasus, nares ; Lett. 

nassis. 
Tooth.^-Skr. dantas; P. dendan; Lith. dantis ; o-dovTsg, 

dentes ; Goth, thuntus ; Dan. tand ; O. Engl, tain ; 

Erse, dend; W. dant. 
Voice. — Skr. vak; Z. vacs ; P. avaz ; Lat. vox; foifj; O. Pr. 

vack, envacke (invoco) ; Serv. wikati (vociferari) ; 

O. H. Germ, ki-wahu (I mention). 
Head. — Skr. kapala; ke^oXtj ; caput; O. H. Germ, houpit; 

Goth, haubith. 
— Skr. s'iras; P. ser; Kapa, Kpaviov, cranium, cere- 
brum ; O. H. Germ, hirni ; Germ, ge-hirn. 
Hair. — Skr. kesa ; P. kisu ; Lith. kassa ; Lett, kashoks ; 

Scl. kosa ; Lat. csesa-ries, from which, and not from 

csesus, is derived Caesar, the long-haired. 
Ear. — Scl. ucha, yshi ; Lith. ausis ; O. Pr. ausi; Lett. 

auss; ovg, ovag^ auris; Goth, auso ; Germ, ohr; 

Erse, ogh. 
Right (hand). — Skr. daks'ina; Z. das'ina: ^e^iog, dexter; 

Scl. dessna ; Lith. deszine ; Lett, and O. Pr. des- 

sine ; Goth, taihsvo ; Erse, deas : from Skr. daks'ina 

comes Aaxvog, the Deccan (South). 



56 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

Nail. — Skr. nak'as; P. nak'an; o-vuxfCJ Lith. nagas; 

Lett, nags ; Scl. nogot ; Scand. nogl ; Germ. 

nagel. 
Knee. — Skr. g'anu; Z. g'enu; P. zanu ; 70^*^5 g^"^; 

Alban. geniu ; Goth, kniu ; O. H. Germ, chniu ; 

Germ. knie. 
Foot. — Skr. padas; Z.pad'as; P. pa ; TroSfc? pedes; Lith. 

padas ; Lett, pehda ; Goth, fotus ; Germ. fuss. 
Body. — Z. kerefs, ace. kerepem or kehrpem ; Lat. corpus ; 

Germ, korper; Scand. kropp and korf; W. corph ; 

O. Pr. kermens ; Alban. kourm. 
Udder. — Skr. ud'as ; Lith. udroja (it udders or swells in the 

dugs); A.-Sax. uder; Germ, euter; Gr.ovOap; Lat. 

uber. 
Navel. — Skr. nab'i; Z. nafo ; P. naf ; Lett nabba; Germ. 

nabel ; O. H. Germ, napalo ; o/u^aXoc? umbilicus. 
Heart. — Skr. hard-aya; icapSm, cordis ; Scl. serdze : Lith. 

szirdis ; Lett, ssirds ; O. Pr. sirs ; Goth, hairto ; 

Germ, herz ; Erse, cridhe. 
Blood. — Kpvog, cruor ; Scl. krowi ; Lith. kraujas ; O. Pr. 

krawia ; O. Germ, grau, gore ; Erse, cru. 
Tear. — Skr. as'ru ; Lith. aszara ; Lett, assara ; Pers. zareh : 

Germ, zahre ; ^aKpv, lachryma, olim dachryma ; 

Goth, tagr ; W. deigryn ; Erse, deor. 



Section IIL Objects of Nature and Art. 

Sky. — Skr. nab'as; Scl. nebo ; v£0fX»), nebula; O. H. 
Germ, nepal; Germ, nebel; Erse, neal; W. nivwl: 
Lith. debbesis; Lett, debbes: compare d for n m 
the numeral nine. 



NOUNS. 57 

Sun. — Skr. hailis; riXtog; W. haul, heol ; Lat. sol; Scl. 

solnze ; Lith. saule ; Lett, ssaule ; Goth, sauil ; 

Scand. soel; Erse, saule. 
Moon, or month. — Skr. masa; Z. mao, ace. maonhem ; 

P. mah ; jurjvrj, mensis ; Scl. miesez ; Lith. mienu ; 

Lett, mehnes ; Goth, mena, menoths ; Erse, mios. 
Star. — Skr. tara, olim stara ; Z. staro; P. sitareh; a-crrripi 

Stella, dimin. of stera, as hilla of hira ; Goth, stairno ; 

Germ, stern ; W. seren ; Armoric, steren. 
Earth. — Skr. go, ace. gam; yrj and yaia; Goth, gavi, and 

Germ, gau, (a region) ; O. H. Germ, kewi; Erse, 

ce ; Z. zao, ace. zanm ; P. zemin ; Scl. zemia and 

zemla; Lith. zieme; Lett, and O. Pr. semme. 
Sea. — Skr. mirah ,- Lat. mare ; Scl. more ; Lith. mares ; 

Goth, marei ; Germ, meer and mere ; Scand. mar ; 

Erse, muir; W. mor. 
Water. — Skr. uda ; Lat. udus, unda ; Gr. vdojp ; Scl. voda ; 

Lith. vandu ; Lett, udens ; O. Pr. unds ; Scand. 

udr ; Goth, vato ; O. H. Germ, wazar ; Germ. 

wasser; Erse, dour; W. dwr. 
Fire. — Skr. agnih; Lat. ignis; Lith. ugnis ; Lett, ugguns; 

Scl. ogni; Erse, aghna. Through Goth, auhns, we 

can connect O. H. Germ, ofan ; Engl, oven ; iirvog 

and iKvog. Bopp's Vocalismus, p. 155. 
Light. — Skr. aloka, from loc'ayatai, lucet ; Xvkyj, X£V(t(thv, 

luc-is; Scl. luc'; Lett, lukotees (to look around) ; 

Goth, liuhath ; Germ, licht ; W. Ihwg ; Erse, 

leos. 
Day. — Skr. dyu and dina; Lat. dies, diurnus; Scl. den; 

Lith. diena ; Lett, deena ; O. Pr. deina ; Erse, di, 

dia ; W. dydh ; Goth, dags ; Germ. tag. 
Night. — Skr. nisa, nakta; vvKTtg, noctes; Scl. noc'; Lith. 



58 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

naktis ; Lett, nakts ; O. Pr. nacti ; Goth, nahts ; 

Germ, nacht ; Erse, nochd ; W. nos. 
Cloud. — Skr. meg'a; Pers. mig'; Scl. mgla; Lith. migla; 

Lett, migla ; Gr. o-fux^a ; Goth, milhma. 
Winter. — Skr. hima (snow) ; Z. zima ; P. zirae-stan ; Scl. 

zima; Lith. ziema; Lett, seema; x^tjuwv, hiems: 

from Skr. hima, is derived the name of the Hima- 
laya mountains, and Imaus mons is rightly explained 

nivosus by Pliny, x. 27. 
Clothing. — Skr. vasas, vastra ; Z. vas'tra ; fetrSrig, vestis ; 

Goth, vasti, gavasjan. 
Linen. — Xivov, linum ; Scl. len ; Lith. linnai ; Lett, linni ; 

Germ, lein ; W. Uin. 
Hemp. — Skr. sana; Pers. cannab ; Kavva(5ig, cannabis; 

Scl. konopi ; Lith. kannapes ; Lett, kannepes ; 

Scand. hanpr; Germ, hanf ; Erse, canaib. 
Mead, or honey. — Skr. mad'u ; Z. mad'u ; Scl. med ; Lith. 

medus ; Lett, meddus ; W. medh ; Gr. /nOv ; O. H. 

Germ, metu; Germ. meth. For Latin medus, see 

Pott, vol. ii. p. 169. 
Wine. — Lat. vinum ; foivog ; Scl. vino ; O. Pr. vyna ; 

Germ, wein ; Erse, fin ; W. gwin, win. 
Milk. — Scl. mleko, from mlzu, mulgeo; Lith. melzu 

(mulgeo) ; O. H. Germ, melhen (to milk) ; Scand. 

miolk ; Germ, milch ; Gr. yXayog, milk, for fiXayog, 

from a-iJieXyu) : also yaXaKTog, lactis ; Erse, laith ; 

W. Ihaeth. 
Cheese. — Lat. caseus ; Lith. kiezas ; Scand. kiasir ; Germ. 

kase ; Erse, caise : W. caws. 
Mill. — Pers. maliden (to grind) ; fdvXt}, mola, molere; Scl. 

melniza, meliti ; Lith. malti ; Germ, muhle, mahlen : 

Erse, muilionn ; W. melin. 



NOUNS. 59 

Yoke.— Skr. juga; P. jug; Zvyov, jugum; Scl. jgo; 

Lith. jungyti (to yoke); Lett, jugs; Goth, juk ; 

Germ, joch ; W. jau. 
Carriage. — Skr. rat'a ; Z. rat'a ; Gallic, rheda : wheel — Skr. 

rat'ya ; Lat. rota ; Lith. ratas ; Lett, rats ; Germ. 

rad; Erse, roth. 
Skr. vaha ; Lat. veha ; Foxog ; Scl. voz ; Lith. 

wezu, inf. wessti (vehere) ; Scand. vogn; Germ. 

wagen, wain. 
Skr. aks a ; a/uL-a^a, axis ; Scl. osi ; Lith. assis ; 

Lett, ass; O. H. Germ, ahsa; Germ, achse. 
House. — Skr. damas ; ^o/uiot;, domus ; Scl. dom ; Goth. 

timrjan (to build a house). 
Skr. vesas; foiKog: village — Lat. vicus ; Scl. ves; 

Goth, veihs. 
Door. — Skr. dwara ; P. dar ; Scl. dwer ; Lith. durrys ; 

Lett, durris; Goth, daura; Germ, thur; Bvpa; 

Erse, doras; W. dor. 



Section IV. Animals, 8fc. 

Cattle. — Skr. pas'us; Z. pas'eus; Lat. pecus; Gr. ttwu; 

Scl. pasu (pasco), pasty r (pastor); O. Pr. pecku; 

Goth, faihu ; O. H. Germ, vihu ; Germ. vieh. 
Ox, Cow. — Skr. go, gaus; Z. gaos; P. gau; Sabine, 

gaius; Lett, gows; Erse, geo; Scand. ku; O. H. 

Germ, chuo; Germ, kuh; (5ovg, bos; Scl. bulk; 

W- buw. 
Skr. uks'an; Lat. vacca; Goth, auhsns ; O. H. 

Germ, ohso ; Germ, ochs; Erse, agh ; W. ych. 
Sheep. — Skr. awis; Lat. ovis ; Gr. otc ; Scl. owza; Lith. 

12 



60 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

awis; Lett, aws; A.-Sax. eav; Goth, avistr (o vile) ; 

Germ, ovv, eowa, ewe ; Erse, aoi. 
Dog. — Skr. s'wa, gen. s'unos; Z. s'pa, gen. s'uno; Russ. 

sabaka ; Lith. szu, gen. szuns ; Lett, ssuns ; kvwv, 

canis ; Erse, cu, gen. coin ; W. ki, plur. cwn ; 

Goth, hunths ; O. H. Germ. hund. 
Horse. — Skr. asVas; Z. as pa; P. asp; Lith. aszwa; 

tinrog, equus ; Scand. eikur, oek ; ^ O. Sax. ehu ; 

Erse, each. 
Ass. — Lat. asinus, asellus ; Russ. osel ; Lith. asilas ; Goth. 

asilus ; Scand. asni, asen : Germ, esel ; Erse, asal ; 

W. asyn. 
Wolf. — Skr. varkas; Z. vehrko; Sabine, hirpus; \vKog, 

lupus ; Russ. wolk ; Lith. wilkas ; Lett, wilks ; 

Goth, vulfs ; Germ, wolf ; Alban. oulk. 
Mouse. — Skr. mus'ika ; P. mus'; fivg, mus ; Scl. mus'y ; 

O. H. Germ, mus ; Germ. maus. 
Goose, gander. — Skr. hansa; P. kaz; x"^?? anser; Scl. 

gusi, gansior ; Lith. zasis ; Lett, soss ; O. H. Germ. 

kans; Germ, gans; Scand. gaas; Erse, geadh, 

ganreadh; W. gwyz. 
Duck. — Skr. andani ; Lat. anas, anatis ; vj^TTa ; Lith. 

antis ; Germ, ente ; Scand. and. 
Worm. — Skr. kirmis; P. kirm ; Lith. kirmele, kirminis, 

kirmyti (to turn to worms); Lett, zehrms, zirmins'; 

Lat. vermis : Goth, vaurms ; Scand. orms ; Germ. 

wurm. 
Fly. — Skr. maks'ika ; Z. mak's'i ; Lat. musca ; fivia ; Scl. 

maucha, mywa; Lith. musse; Lett, mus'a; O. H. 

Germ, mucca (midge) ; Germ, mucke ; Scand. my, 

mygge. 



ADJECTIVES. 61 



Section V. Adjectives, Numerals, Pronouns. 

Great. — Skr. maliat ; Z. mazo, ace. mazanhem ; P. mih ; 

Lat. magnus ; jueyaXo ; Goth, mikils ; O. H. Germ. 

mihil ; O. Engl, mucliel ; Erse, meall ; to this root 

belong Scl. mogu (possum); Lett, mak-t (posse); 

O. Pr. massi (potest) ; Lith. macnis (potestas). 
Broad. — Skr. prathus, compar. prat'ijas ; irXarvg ; Lith. 

platus; Lett, plats; Scand. flatr; Lat. latus. 
Heavy. — Skr. gurus, compar. garijas ; P. giran ; Lat. 

gravis ; Lett, gruts ; Goth, kauris ; (5apvg, hrutum 

antiqui gravem dicebant, Festus, 
Full. — Skr. purnas ; Z. pereno ; P. per ; ttAcocj plenus ; 

Scl. pelny ; Lith. pilnas; Lett, pilns ; O. Pr. pilna; 

Goth, fulls; O. H, Germ, vol; W. Uawn. 
Saturated. — Lat. satur; Scl. sut, syty; Lith. sotus; Lett. 

ssats ; O. Pr. satuinei (thou satisfiest) ; Germ. satt. 
Long. — Skr. dirg'as; Z. dareg as ; P. diras; ^oXiyoq-, 

Scl. dolgui ; Lith. ilgas ; Lett, ilgs ; O. Pr. ilga ; 

Lat. longus; Goth, langs; Germ. lang. 
Thin. — Skr. tanus; P. tenuk ; rawg (in composition), 

tenuis ; Scl. tanok, tanan ; Scand. thunnr, tunn ; 

Germ, dunn ; W. denau. 
Light. — Skr. lag'us ; c-Xa^vc ; Scl. legkii, lagan ; Lith. 

lengwas ; Scand. lagur ; O. H. Germ, liht ; Germ. 

leicht ; Lat. levis. 
Young. — Skr. juvan ; P. juan ; Lat. juvenis; Scl. januii, 

jonos'a; Lith. jaunas; Lett, jauns; Goth. Jungs; 

Germ, jung ; W. jau, jeuant. 
New. — Skr. navah ; P. nu ; Lat. novus ; veoc ; Scl. 



62 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

novii ; Lith. naujas ; O. Pr. nauns ; Goth, nivis, 

gen. niujis ; Germ, neu ; Erse, nuadh ; W. newydli. 
Warm. — Skr. g'arma ; Z. garema ; P. garm ; Ospfiog ; 

Scl. goriu (I burn); O. Pr. garre-wingi ; Goth. 

varm ; G. warm ; Erse, garam ; W. gwres. 
Dry. — Skr. sus'ka ; Z. huska ; P. k'us'k ; GavicoQ, crava- 

apoQ, siccus ; Scl. suc'ii, sus'iti (siccare) ; Lith. 

sausas ; Lett, and O. Pr. sausa ; W. sych. 
Middle. — Skr. mad'ya; Z. maid'ya; P. mijan ; Lat. 

medius ; fisfrog ; Scl. mezdu (inter) ; Goth, midis, 

midjas ; O. H. Germ, mitis ; Germ, mittel ; Erse, 

meadhon. 
Red. — Skr. rud'ira; Lat. ruber; Scl. rdjti (to redden); 

Lith. ruddas ; Lett, ruds ; Scand. rod ; Engl, ruddy, 

rud ; Erse, ruadh ; epvOpog ; O. H. Germ, rot ; 

Germ. roth. 
White. — Skr. sVeta; Scl. sviet (lucidus); Lith. swiezus : 

A.-Sax. sveotol; Goth, hveits; Germ, weiss. 
Widowed. — Skr. vid avah ; Lat. viduus ; Scl. vdovj ; O. Pr. 

viddevu ; Goth, vidovo ; Germ, wittwe. 
Holy. — Skr. sVantas ; Z. s'pentas ; Lith. szwantas ; O. Pr. 

swints ; Lett, sswehts ; Scl. swiat. 
All. — Skr. visVas ; Z. vis'pas ; Lith. vissas ; O. Pr. vissa ; 

Lett, viss ; Scl. vessj. 
Other. — Skr. anyas; Prakrit, anno; Z. anyas; Scl. in; 

Lett, jaunu; Pomeranian ^ annes; aXXoc? alius; 

Goth, aljas; O. H. Germ, ali-landi (from other 

lands) ; Erse, eile ; W. alh. 
Skr. antaras ; Lith. and O. Pr. antars ; Lett. 



5 The word annes (other), pronounced atinyes, is in use among the peasants 
of Pomerania. — J'ater's J'gl. Tafeln, p. 233. 



NUMERALS, 63 

otrs ; Goth, antliar ; O. H. Germ, andar ; Lat. 
alter; ETspog; W. either. 
Both. — Skr. ub'a: Z. uba; Scl. oba; Lith. abbu; Lett, 
abbi ; O. Pr. abbai ; afKpu), ambo ; Goth, ba ; 
Germ, beide. 

To show the affinity of the numerals, Bopp prefers giv- 
ing the nominative feminine of the ordinals. P. 462. 
First. — Skr. pratama; Z. frathema and paoirya; Dor. 

TTpwra, prima ; Goth, fruma ; Lith. pirma ; O. Pr. 

pirmoi; Scl. pervaja. 
Second. — Skr. dvitiya ; Z. bitya ; davTEpa, altera ; Goth. 

anthara; Lith. antra; O. Pr. antra; Scl. vtoraja 

(dva, two). 
Third. — Skr. tartiya; Z. thritya; rp/ra, tertia; Goth. 

thridjo ; Lith. trec'ia ; O. Pr. tirti ; Scl. tretija. 
Fourth. — Skr. c'aturt'a and turiya ; Z. tuirya ; Tirapra, 

quarta; Goth, fidvordo; Lith. ketwirta; O. Pr. 

kettwirta; Scl. c'etvertaja. 
Fifth. — Skr. panc'ama; Z. pugdha (panc'an,^^^) ; 7r£/u7rra, 

quinta ; Goth, fimfto ; Lith. penkta ; O. Pr. pienkta ; 

Scl. piataja. 
Sixth. — Skr. s'asYa ; Z. cstva (csvas, six) ; t/cra, sexta ; 

Goth, saihsto ; Lith. szeszta ; O. Pr. us'tai ; Scl. 

s'estaja. 
Seventh. — Skr. saptama ; Z. haptatha ; kj^dofia, septima ; 

Goth, sibundo; Lith. sekma; O. Pr. septmai; Scl. 

sedmaja. 
Eighth. — Skr. as'tama ; Z. astema ; 0780a, octava ; Goth. 

ahtudo; Lith. aszma ; O. Pr. asmus (masc); Scl. 

osmaja. 
Ninth. — Skr. navama; Z. nauma; evvutu, nona; Goth. 



64 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

niundo; Lith. dewinta; O. Pr. newinta; Scl. dev- 
jataja. 
Tenth. — Skr. dasama ; Z. dasema ; ^EKara, decima ; Gotli. 
taihundo ; Lith. deszimpta ; O. Pr. dessimta ; Scl. 
_ desjataja. 

The following Celtic numerals are taken from Prichard, 
p. 38. ^ 

Erse : — aen, da, tri, keathair, kuig, se, secht, ocht, noi, 

deich. 
Welsh: — un, dau, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, 

naw, deg. 

Pronouns of the first and second persons in the singular 
and plural. Bopp, p. 481. 
First person. — Skr. aham, pi. vayam and asme ; Z. azem, 

pi. vaem ; eytuv, ofijULeg ; ego, nos ; Goth, ik, veis : 

Lith. asz, mes ; O. Pr. as, mes ; Scl. az, my. 
Second person. — Skr. tvam, pi. yuyam and yus'me; Z. 

tum, pi. yuschem and yus; tow, vju/xec; tu, vos; 

Goth, thu, yus; Lith. tu, jus; O. Pr. tou, jous; 

Scl. ty, vy. 

Section VL Verbal Roots. 

Skr. g'an, to be born, g'ag'anmi ; Z. zan, zazami ; Gr. -ye v, 
yiy{e)vofiai, yevvatt), yevog, gignor, genero, genus; 
Lith. gemu, inf. gimti ; Lett, dsimt ; O. Pr. gemmons 
(natus) ; Goth, kin, keina, kuni (genus) ; Engl, kin ; 
Erse, gein ; W. geni. 

Skr. mar, to die, maryatai (moritur), marah (mors) ; Z. 
mar, mere thy u, dead, mahrka, death ; P. murden ; 



VERBAL ROOTS. 65 

Lat. mori; Scl. mrijeti ; Lith. mirti; Lett, mirt; 

Goth, maurthr, and Germ, mord, murder ; Erse, 

raarbh, dead ; W. marw, to die, — Compare fiapaivw, 

marcere ; Lith. and Lett, mirkt, to wither, 
Skr. g'iv, to live, g'ivami, g'iva, life ; 7j. g'i or g'va, 

g'ayami ; ?a(u, vivo ; Scl. g'ivu, g'iva, life ; Lith. 

gyvoti ; Lett, dsivoht ; O. Pr. givat, giva, life ; Goth. 

quivs, living, or Engl, quick; Scand. quikr; Erse, 

beo, to live ; W. l^y w ; j5iog» 
Skr. g'na, to know, g'anami, g'natas (gnotus) ; yivw(TKw, 

gnosco, gnarus ; Scl. znati ; Lith. zinoti ; Lett, sinnat ; 

Goth, kann, / know ; O. H. Germ, chnata, / knew ; 

Germ, kennen; Engl, to ken, to know; W. gwn, / 

know, 
Skr. vid, vaida, / know ; 7j, vid ; Gr. fet^w, video ; Scl. 

vidjeti, to see, vjezti, to know ; Lith. veizdmi ; O. Pr. 

veist, vaidimi, we know, acki-visti, openly, with eye- 
witnesses ; Goth, vid ; Scand. vide, to know ; O. H. 

Germ, viz ; Germ, wissen ; Engl, to wit, wot, wise ; 

W. gwydli and wydh, knowledge. 
Skr. bud*, to know and to waken, bod'ati, he knows, bud'ah, 

usage, wakeful; Tj, bud*, to see ; Scl. buditi, to waken; 

Lith. bundeti ; Lett, buddinat ; O. Pr. bude, they are 

wakeful; Erse, fodh, knowledge, fodhach, wise, 
Skr. dars*, dadars'a, / saw ; Z. dadares a ; Sepjcw ; O. Pr. 

en-deirit, to look on ; Lith. dairaus, look about ; Lett. 

pee-durknite, perspicue ; Erse, dearc, sight, dearcam, 

to see ; W. drem, sight. 
Skr. s'ru, inf. shrotum, to hear, s'ravayami, and Zend, s*ra- 

vayemi, / make to hear ; kXvu), viKvTog, cluere, inclutus ; 

Scl. slutati, to hear ; Lith. klausyti; Lett, klaussiht; 

O. Pr. klausit ; Goth, hliuma, an ear ; Scand. hlyda, 



66 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

to hear ; Erse, cluinam, / hear, cluas, an ear ; W. 
clyw, hearing, clust, an ear. 

Skr. man, manyati, he thinks, manas, mind; Z. man, to 
think, mano, mind, also to speak, manthra, speech; 
/jLvao/jii, jUEjuova, fiEvog, moneo, memini, mens ; Scl. 
mjeniti, to think, po-mjanu, / remember ; Lith. me- 
neti; Lett, pee-minne, ad-moneo; O.^r. po-minisna, 
thought ; Goth, munan ; O. H. Germ, manon ; Germ, 
meinen ; Engl, to mean ; W. menw, mind. 

Skr. i, to go, emi, imas ; sifii, ifiev, eo, imus ; Z. aeiti (it) ; 
P. amden ; Scl. iti ; Lith. eiti ; Lett, eet ; O. Pr. 
eit (it) ; Goth, iddja, / ivent, hir-i, come here. 

Skr. st'a, to stand, tis'tami ; Z. histami ; larrifiL ; P. asta- 
den, stare ; Scl. stati ; Lith. stoweti ; O. Pr. staninti 
(stans), po-stat ; Goth, standan ; O. H. Germ, stan- 
tan; Erse, stadam, to stand; W. eistedh, to sit. 

Skr. sad, to sink, ni-sad, to sit doion ; P. ni-s'esten ; i^ofiat, 
E^og, sido, sedeo ; Scl. sjedjeti ; Lith. sedeti ; Lett, 
sehdeet ; O. Pr. sidons ; Goth, sitan ; O. H. Germ, 
sezan ; Germ, sitzen ; Erse, suidham. 

Skr. vah, to carry, vahati ; Z. vazaiti ; fox^wj ^'eho ; Scl. 
wezu, inf. westi ; Lith. wessti ; Lett, and O. Pr. west ; 
Scand. vega; Germ, wagen, wain. 

Skr. b'ar, to hear, bib'arti ; Z. baraiti ; P. berden ; Goth, 
bairan ; Sax. bearan ; O. H. G. peran ; Erse, bheirim, 
bearadh ; ^c^ow, fero : ber occurs in salu-ber, candela- 
brum, &c. 

Skr. kar, to make, karoti, karnomi in the Vedas; Z. 
kerenaomi, kerenoiti ; P. kerden ; icpaivw, creo, cere- 
monia ; O. Pr. kura (creavit) ; O. H. Germ, karawan ; 
Scand. ger-dh (actio) ; Erse, ceard, workman. 

Skr. da, to give, dadami ; Z. dadhami : P. daden ; EiSw/jii, 
12 



VERBAL ROOTS. 67 

do, dare ; Scl. damj, inf. daiti ; Lith. dumi, dudu ; 

Lett, do-t; O. Pr. dast (dat), inf. datwei ; Erse, 

daighim (do), inf. daighead. 
Skr. da, to place^ dad ami ; Z. da, ni-dathama (deponamus) ; 

P. dan [a place, in composition) : Gr. 0r},Ti6riiuLi; Lith. 

demi, dedu, inf. deti ; Lett, deht ; O. Pr. sen sen-ditans 

rankans, with hands folded or placed together. In Zend, 

the root da often signifies to make : hence O. L. Germ. 

doan, gedon ; O. H. Germ, tuon, kitan ; Germ, thun, 

gethan ; Engl, to do, done; Scl. djejes'i, thou makest ; 

Skr. in composition, vi-dad'ami, / make. 
Skr. ad, to eat, admi ; eSw, edo, esu ; Scl. jamj, for jadmi, 

inf. jesti; Lith. edmi, inf. esti; Lett, ehmu, ehde, 

inf. ehst; O. Pr. ist, inf. istwei, part, iduns, idis, 

food; Goth, itan; O. H. Germ, izan ; Germ, essen; 

Erse, ithim, inf. itheadh ; W. ysu, to eat. 
Skr. pi, to drink, pivami, inf. patum ; irib), invw, poto ; Scl. 

pju, inf. piti; Lith. pota; O. Pr.pouis, drink, inf. 

pouton ; Alban. pii, inf. me pym. 
Skr. tars', to parch, to thirst ; rspcrsiv, torreo, terra (sicca) ; 

Lith. trokssti ; Goth, thairsan (arere), thaursjan 

(sitire); Germ, dorren, dursten. 
Skr. tap, to heat, inf. taptum; Z. tap, tafnus, burning; 

P. taften; Gr. ra^, eTa(^ov, (L) to bum, (2.) to bury, 

Te(l)pa, ashes ; tepeo, tepidus ; Scl. tepleiu, teplii. 
Skr. b*i, to fear, bib'emi, b'is, fear ; Z. bio, bias, fear ; 

P. bim; Lith. baime, bijau, inf. bijoti; Lett, bit; 

O. Pr. bia, he fears, inf. biatwei, biasna, fear; Pole, 

baz ; O. Sax. bivon ; O. H. Germ, pipinon, to tremble ; 

<l>£f5ofiai, ^oj3oc ; Scl. boi-s'i, thoufearest, 
Skr. d'ru, to stand sure, inf. d'ravitum, d'ruvas, sure ; Lith. 

drutas, secure; O. Pr. druwis, belief, inf. druwit; 
f2 



68 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

Goth, trauan ; O. H. Germ, truen ; Germ, trauen, 

to trust ; Engl, true, troth. 
Skr. kars', to plough, ksirs'ts^, ploughed ; Tj. karsta, id. ; agoii), 

aro ; Scl. oriu, orati ; Lith. aru, arti ; Lett, art ; 

O. H. Germ, aran ; Dutch, aeren ; O. Engl, to ear 

(Gen. xlv. 6); Erse, aram, inf. araidh; W. aredig. — 

Compare Skr. kam, kamayami ; Lat. ai^o ; Walachian, 

chamor, love. 
Skr. sii {to sow ?), savami, genero, produco ; Lat. serere for 

se-sere, satus; Scl. sjetati; Lith. seti; Lett, seht; 

Goth, saian ; Germ, saen ; Scand. soa ; Engl, to sow. 

Seed : Lat. se-men ; Scl. sje-ma ; Lith. semenys ; 

O. H. Germ. samo. 
Skr. vak's', to increase, vakVatai ; Z. uk's', uk's'yann (auge- 

bant) ; av^erai, auget ; O. Pr. ucka, an augmentative 

particle, ucka-kuslaisin, very weak ; Goth, vahsjan ; 

G. wachsen ; Engl, to wax. 
Skr. star, to strew, starnomi ; Z. stereta (expansus) ; trrop- 

vvfii, sterno, stratus; Scl. stre-ti (expandere), stla-ti 

(sternere) ; Goth, straujan ; G. streuen. 
Skr. mis', to mix, mis'rayatai ; P. amik'ten ; fiKrytTcu, 

miscet ; Scl. mjesiti ; Lith. missti ; Lett, missetees ; 

G. mischen ; Erse, meas-gaim ; W. mysgy. 
Skr. b'u, to be, inf. b'avitum ; Z. bu, bavaiti, he is ; P. 

bu-den, to be; Scl. bu-ti, to be; Lith. buti, bu-su 

(ero); Lett, but, biju(fui); O. Pr. bout, bouuns, being ; 

Low. Germ, beon, to be; Engl, be, been ; O. H. Germ. 

pim, lam ; Erse, bhith, to be, bu mi, / was ; W. bod, 

to be, bum, buost, bu, /, thou, he was : tpvio, <pvvai, fui, 

fuvimus. 
Skr. as, to be, asti, he is ; Z. asti ; P. est ; £(m, est ; Scl. 

jest; Lith. esti ; Lett, essmu (sum); O. Pr. ast; 



DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN. 



69 



Goth, and Germ, ist ; Engl, is ; Erse, is ; W. ys, 
oes. 

I shall conclude this chapter with one or two specimens 
of grammatical inflexions in the various languages here 
mentioned. The demonstrative pronoun, which is used as 
the definite article in Greek and German only, is thus 
declined. (Bopp, p. 496.) 









Nominative. 






Skr. 


Singular, 
sa sa 


tat 


te 


Plural, 
tas 


tani, ta 


Z. 


ho 


ha 


tat 


tl 


tao 


ta 


Gr. 


6 


a, ri 


TO 


rot, ot 


Tai, ai 


Ta 


Lat. 


is-Te 


is-Ta 


is-Tud 


is-Ti 


is-Tae 


is-Ta 


Scl. 


t' 


ta 


to 


ti 


ty 


ta 


Lith. 


tas 


ta 


tai 


tie 


tos 


— 


Goth. 


sa 


so 


thata 


thai 


thos 


tho 


0. H. 


G. der 


diu 


daz 
Accusa 


die 
tive. 


die 


diu 


Skr. 


tarn 


tam 


tat 


tan 


tas 


tani, ta 


Z. 


tern 


tanm 


tat 


tan 


tao 


ta 


Gr. 


TOV 


rav, Tijv 


TO 


Tovg 


Tdc 


Ta 


Lat. 


is-Tum 


is-Tam 


is-Tud 


is-Tos 


is-Tas 


is-Ta 


Scl. 


t' 


tu 


to 


ty 


ty 


ta 


Lith. 


tan 


tan 


tai 


tus 


tas 


— 


Goth. 


thana 


tho 


thata 


thans 


thos 


tho 


0. H. 


G.den 


dia 


daz 
Instrume 


die 
jntal. 


dio 


diu 


Skr. 


tena 


taya 


tena 


tais 


tab'is 


tais 


Z. 


ta 


tahmya 


ta 


tais 


tabis 


tais 


Scl. 


tjem 


toju 


tjem 


tjemi 


tjemi 


tjemi 


Lith. 


tu, tumi 


ta 


tu, tumi 


tais 


tomis 


tais 



70 



[NDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 



Dative. 





Singular. 






Plural. 




Skr. 


tasmai 


tasyai 


tasmai 


teb'yas 


tab'yas 


teb'yas 


Z. 


tahmai 


tanhai 


tahmai 


taeibyo 


tabyo 


taeibyo 


Gr. 


ry 


r^, ry 


ry 


LOC. TOiai TUKTl 


Toim 


Lat. 


is-Ti 


is-Ti 


is-Ti 


is-Tis 


is-Tis 


is-Tis 


Scl. 


tomu 


toi 


tomu 


tjem 


tjem 


tjem 


Lith. 


tarn 


tai 


tarn 


tiem(u)s 


top(u)s 


tiem(u)s 


Goth. 


thamma 


thizai 


thamma 


thaim 


thaim 


thaim 


0. H. 


G. demu 


deru 


demu 


dem 


dem 


dem 








Ablative. 






Skr. 


tasmat 


tasyas 


tasmat 


teb'yas 


tab'yas 


teb'yas 


Z. 


tahmat 


tanhat 


tahmat 


taeibyo 


tabyo 


taeibyo 


Lat. 


is-To(d) 


is-Ta(d) 


is-To(d) 
Geniti 


is-Tis 
ve. 


is-Tis 


is-Tis 


Skr. 


tasya 


tasyas 


lasya 


tes'am 


tasam 


tes'am 


Z. 


tahe 


tanhao 


tahe 


taes'anm 


taonhamn 


taea'amn 


Gr. 


TOW 


rac, r»;c 


TOIO 


TOJV 


TaUiV, T(i)V 


TbJV 


Lat. 


is-Tius 


is-Tius 


is-Tius 


is-Torum 


is-Tarum 


is-Torum 


Scl. 


togo 


toja 


togo 


tjech 


tjech 


tjech 


Lith. 


to 


tos 


to 


tu 


tu 


tu 


Goth. 


this 


thizos 


this 


thize 


thizo 


thize 


O.H. 


G. des 


dera 


des 
Locati 


dero 
ve. 


dero 


dero 


Skr. 


tasmin 


tasyam 


tasmin 


tes'u 


tasu 


tes'u 


Z. 


tahmi 


tahmya 


tahmi 


taes'va 


tahva 


taes'va 


Scl. 


torn 


toi 


tom 


tjech 


tjech 


tjech 


Lith. 


tame 


toje 


tame 


tuse 


tosa 


tuse 



N. Ace. 
L D. Ab. 
G. L. 



Skr. 
tau, ta 
tab'yam 
taybs 



DUAL. 

Masculine. 
Z. Gr. Scl. Lith. 

tao, ta TU) ta tu 

taeibya D. tou' I. D. tjema D. tiem 
tayo G. Toty toju tu 



Scl. 


Lith. 


tje 


tie 


tjema 


torn 


toju 


G. tu 



DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN. 71 

Feminine. 

Skr. Z. Gr. 

N. Ace. te te ra 

I. D. Ab. tabyam tabya D. raiv 

G. L. tayos G. raiv 

Neuter. 
N. Ace. te te rw tje 

- The rest as the Masculine. 

Remarks. — Besides the nom. masc. sa in Skr., we have 
the forms so, sah, and sas. The words (rr)jU£pov, this day^ 
arirag, this i/ear, point to a primitive aog, oa, to (r), as in 
Skr. and Goth. The ancient gen. toio has usurped the 
place of a more antique toctio, like the Skr. ta-sya ; the 
possessive adjective ^Yifiomog is derived from this antique 
gen. form, ^rjjuoa/o, Srjjuoto, ^rjjuou. The Latin gen. is-Tius 
was originally Tijus, tajus, tijus, like hujus, cujus ; the 
feminine tajus resembles the Skr. ta-syas. Theplur. gen. 
is-Torum is in the place of the more ancient tosum, tasum, 
tosum ; the dat. is-Tis, for tobus, tabus, compare ambobus. 
Many adverbs and conjunctions are nothing more than 
antique fragments of pronouns : thus, ibi, alibi, alicubi, are 
locative cases of the pronouns is, alius, aliquis, but in 
dative forms (tibi, sibi) ; just as, conversely, the Gr. toiq 
has a dative meaning, but a locative form. The word 
tamen is supposed to be a genuine locative form of the 
demonstrative pronoun: compare the Skr. tasmin, and 
Lith. tame. 

The present tense of the verb to give is thus given by 
Bopp, p. 698 :— 

Singular. 



Skr. 


Z. 


Gr. 


Lith. 


Scl. 


dada-mi 


dadha-mi 


h^bi'fii 


du(d)-mi 


da(d)-mj 


dada-si 


dadha-hi 


hSu)-g 


dud-i 


da(d)-si 


dada-ti 


dadhai-ti 


Sid(t)-Ti 


dus-ti 


das-tj 



72 INDO-EUROPEAN VOCABULARY. 

Dual. 

Skr. Z. Gr. Lith. Scl. 

dad-vas du(d)-wa dad-e-va 

dat-t'as das-to Sido-rov dus-ta das-ta 

dat-tas das-to Sido-Tov as Sing. das-ta 

Plural. 

dad-mas dad-e-mahi Sido-fieg du(d)-me da(d)-my 

dat-t'a das-ta oiSo-Tt dus-te ' das-te 

dada-ti dade-nti dido-vn as Sing. dad-jatj 

The present tense of the verb as, to be, is as follows 
p. 695. 

Singular. 



Skr. 


Gr. 


Lith. 


Scl. 


Goth. 


as-mi 


fH-fii 


es-mi 


jes-mj 


i-m 


a-si 


£(T-(7C 


es-si 


je-si 


i-s 


as-ti 


fcr-Ti 


es-ti 
Dual. 


jes-tj 


is-t 


s-vas 




es-wa 


jes-va 
jes-ta 


siju 
sijuts 


s-t'as 


KT-TOV 


es-ta 


8-tas 


la-TOl' 


as Sing. 
Plural. 


jesta 


....... . 


s-mas 


eff-/i«c 


es-me 


jes-my 


sijum 


s-t*a 


i(T-Te 


es-te 


jes-te 


sijuth 


s-anti 


(ff)-t»'ri 


as Sing. 


s-utj 


s-ind 



Zend forms are ab-mi, a-hi, as-ti, 3rd P. Plur. h-enti. 



PART II 



ON THE HISTORY 



EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 



For centuries the ancient history of the Greeks and Romans was considered 
as the limit of historical investigations ; it is only lately that the darkness, 
which hung over the ante-historical period of these two universal nations, 
has heen penetrated, and a more searching look been directed towards the 
German (and other European) families, through whose history that of the 
Greeks and Romans is at the same time illustrated.— Ket^iin^er. 



CHAPTER I. 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

As I have already had occasion to advert to the history of 
the Iranian languages, — Sanskrit, Zend, and Persian, — to 
an extent which is sufficient for the object of this work, I 
shall confine my remarks, in this Second Part, entirely to 
the European idioms ; and shall commence with the exten- 
sive family of the Sclavonian dialects. 

Modern Russia, from its extent and position, would 
always form the natural outlet for Median tribes escaping 
to the North ; we should, therefore, expect to find some 
traces of a Median origin in the varied population of 
Russia ; and such traces are afforded us in the notices of 
ancient history, and the comparison of languages in modern 
times. 

Of all European idioms, the Sclavonian branch, com- 
prising Russian and its kindred dialects, occupies the 
greatest extent of territory. Commencing at the Adriatic 
and Baltic, it spreads eastward to the neighbourhood of 



76 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

Japan. Next to the Arabians, who once held sway from 
Malacca to Lisbon (says Schlozer), never any people 
spread so widely iheir language, their power, and their 
settlements. From Ragusa on the Adriatic, to the shores 
of the Arctic ocean, on the right hand as far as Kam- 
schatka, on the left as far as the Baltic, one every where 
meets with a Sclavonian population, either in a ruling or 
subordinate condition. 

The Sclavonian races in European Russia are divided 
by native writers, from a consideration of the languages, 
into two classes ; the South-east, and North-west. To the 
first belong the Russian and Rusniak, the Bulgarian, 
Servian, Bosnian, Dalmatian, Croatian, and Wendish; to 
the second, the Bohemian, Moravian, Slowakian, Sorbian, 
Polish, and Silesian \ But as my chief concern is with 
the primitive tribes of Sclavonian origin, I shall confine 
my remarks principally to those mentioned by ancient 
historians; the Sauromatse, Sarmatae, Venedi, Illyrians, 
Pannonians, &c. 

The Sauroraatse occur first on the east of the Tanais, 
where Herodotus, Scylax, and Scymnus Chius name them 
as the first people on the Asiatic side ; subsequently, they 
spread widely through the eastern regions of Europe. 
Diodorus Siculus says, " The Scythians, having subdued 
part of Asia, drove several colonies out of the country, and, 
among them, one of the Medes ; this, advancing towards 
the Tanais, formed the nation of the Sauromatae ;" ii. 89. 
The Sarmatae were connected in their origin, and, proba- 
bly, in their name, with the older Sauromatae : Sarmatae 
Medorum, ut ferunt, soboles, Pliny, vi. 7. 

* Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundarten 
von P. J. Schaffarik, p. 22. 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 77 

It is highly probable that the Russians were known to 
Herodotus, and that they are mentioned by him under a 
term little varying from that which is now applied to the 
same people by their Finnish neighbours ; for the Finns 
distinguish the Muscovites by the name of Rosso- lainen, 
or Russian people, and call themselves and nations of their 
own kindred, Suoma-lainen. The word Rosso-lainen, heard 
and written by a Greek, would be Rhoxolani. The Rho- 
xolani, who are first described by Herodotus, are said, in the 
age of Strabo, to have inhabited the plains near the sources 
of the Tanais and the Borysthenes ^. The Krobyzi, also, 
of the same historian (Herod, iv. 49.), are thought by some 
authors to be related to the modern Kriwizen in Russia. 
Further mention of the Krobyzi occurs in Strabo, lib. vii. ; 
Pliny, iv. 12. ; Steph. Byzant., and Nestor ^ 

" The Finns and the Sclavonians are generally sup- 
posed," says Mr. Prichard, p. 15, " to have been the latest 
among the great nations who formed the population of 
Europe. But Finningia and the Fenni are mentioned by 
Tacitus and Pliny, who place them beyond Germany, and 
towards the Vistula. The Sclavonians, indeed, are not 
early distinguished in Europe under that name ; but by the 
appellation of Wends, given to the Sclavonian race by the 
Germans, we recognise them in the geographical descrip- 
tions of Pliny and Tacitus, who mention the Venedi, and 
place them near the Finns, and on the borders of Fin- 
ningia. There the OvsvEdai, or Winidse, are stationed by 
Ptolemy and Jornandes ; and the last of these writers 
appropriates expressly the name of Winidse to the Scla- 
vonic nations." 

3 Prichard, p. 16. ^ Schaflfarik, p. 3. 



78 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

Arndt insists much on the great antiquity of the Scla- 
vonian Wends in Europe. I fully agree with him in con- 
ceding to the Sclavonians this precedence among the 
European nations ; yet, for reasons which will more conve- 
niently be given in Part III., I cannot but think that the 
Veneti of Antenor, who built Patavium, the parent city of 
Venice, and gave their name to the district, were of an 
entirely different race from the Venedi or Sclavonian 
Wends. Micali states that the origin of these Veneti is 
still problematical, or rather entirely unknown. (Vol. ii. 
p. 26.) 

As dialects of the Sclavonian family occupy at the pre- 
sent day a large proportion of our quarter of the globe, 
whilst the Sclavonian name appears in history no earlier 
than the fifth century of our era, the important question 
arises. In what region of the earth did the Sclavonian 
people and tongues lie concealed down to so late an epoch ? 
" It is very probable," says Arndt, " that the Sclavonian 
language, for a very long period before the foundation of 
Rome, was the predominant idiom on the confines of Italy, 
and even in some districts of that country itself. The 
known affinity of the Old Roman and Sclavonian ; the pre- 
sent existence of the language on the borders of Italy, from 
which point it extends to the remotest distance in the 
North-east; the name of Veneti, which occurs in the 
earliest traditions of Italy — which in the middle ages gave 
name to Venice (Venetise) — and which in modern times 
is the well-known name of Sclavonian tribes in Russia 
(Venedi, Winidae, Wends) ; all these and other circum- 
stances, taken together, afford to the above supposition such 
a high degree of probability, that he must bring forward 
very strong proofs indeed who would maintain the con- 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 79 

trary position. The common opinion that the Sclavonians 
first took possession of Illyria and the neighbouring coun- 
tries only at the era of the great revolution which induced the 
fall of the Roman empire, may perhaps rest on a mere strife 
of words. For, granting that about this period a Sclavonian 
people, under this new and peculiar title, conquered those 
countries and settled among the natives, yet these previous 
inhabitants must have spoken some language, which may 
as reasonably be supposed related to the Sclavonian, as to 
any other family of idioms. It is no more improbable that 
the Old Veneti, Illyrians, Pannonians, &c. belonged to the 
Sclavonian race, than that the Tungri, Suevi, Marco- 
manni, may justly be included in the German family*." 

Niebuhr combats this opinion of an affinity between the 
Sclavonians and the old Illyrians ; but after his paradoxes 
concerning the Etruscans, his authority on the affinity of 
nations cannot rank very high. Having stated that the 
Etruscans, coming from the North, were called Tyrrhe- 
nians, merely from the circumstance of having conquered 
and settled in Tyrrhenia, he proceeds : " In like manner 
it is imagined by very many to this day, that the Dalma- 
tians of the Sclavonic race, as they bear the name of 
Illyrians, are descended from the ancient Illyrians who 
inhabited the same regions, and consequently that the 
latter were a Sclavonic people ; an error which, when it 
has once gained a footing, it is useless to combat with the 
circumstantial evidence afforded by the early history of 
nations. It is worthy of remark, that the Pannonians must 
have had a very great facility for acquiring the Latin lan- 
guage ; since under Augustus, a very short time after they 

* Arndt, p. 89. 



80 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

became dependent upon Rome, the use of it was generally 
diffused among them : in the same manner it is in Pseonia 
and Upper Macedonia, and in the territory of the Epirot 
tribes on the borders of Thessaly, that the VVallachian 
tongue arose ; while the Illyrians retained the Skypian." — 
Vol. i. pp. 38. 51. 

Xylander, in his treatise on the Sk^^e or Albanian 
tongue, has given a list of above 3500 words , in that lan- 
guage, which he has endeavoured to share among the 
several European idioms, to the best of his ability; but 
where any term is evidently common to several lan- 
guages, he decides in favour of that idiom in which the 
word has the greatest external resemblance to the Albanian. 
On this rather unscientific principle he assigns, out of the 
whole number, to the Turkish 190 words; to the Greek, 
400 ; to Latin, 650 ; to German, 500 ; to Sclavonian, 60 ; 
so that there are above 1800 words common to the Alba- 
nian with some of the European languages. In this, which 
he says must necessarily be only a very rough approxi- 
mation, the Sclavonian contains about ^ of the whole; 
Turkish, ^; Greek, i; German, \] Latin, J; and Indo- 
European terms constitute more than one-half (p. 294). 
But if we consider that a full moiety of Latin itself con- 
sists of Sclavonian and Lithuanian elements, we may rest 
assured that some error has vitiated his calculation in the 
relative proportion of the Sclavonian and Latin shares. 
From the great number of Latin and Greek words, and 
from the greater proportion of Latin to Greek, I am 
inclined to think that the Albanians are the nearest 
modern representative of the ancient people which I have 
named Medo-Grecian. Xylander looks upon them as an 
original Indo-European race, related to the old Illyrians ; 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 81 

and from the abundance of German in Skype, he supposes 
it was these Illyrians coming round by the North- East, and 
not necessarily or solely proper German tribes descending 
from the North, who introduced into Italy the numerous 
German forms which are observed in Latin (pp. 296, 319). 
" The original seat of the Sclavonians," says Schaffarik, 
" appears to have been India, as Persia was that of the 
Germans: we are led to this as a well-grounded conclu- 
sion, from a comparison of Sclavonian with Sanskrit, and 
of German with Persian. We know not the time or cause of 
the first appearance of the Sclavonian race in Europe ; yet it 
is obvious that the event happened some hundred, if not a 
full thousand, years before our era" (p. 2). If this author 
had been acquainted with Zend, he would probably have 
modified a little his opinion concerning the Indian origin 
of the Sclavonians. I have already expressed my convic- 
tion that the direct influence of Sanskrit was confined to 
the East, and that the numerous languages of Europe are 
derived principally from the Old Median. In accordance 
with this view, we find that the Sauromatse and Sarmatae 
are stated in history to have been descendants of the 
Medes, whilst the old language of Media contains forms 
of words which are intermediate to Sanskrit and Scla- 
vonian : e. g. Skr. aham ; Zend, azem ; Scl. az, I : Skr. go, 
ace. gam ; Zend, zao, ace. zanm ; Scl. zemie ; O. Pr. 
semme, earth : Skr. sVa ; Zend, s'pa ; Russian, sabaka, 
dog. In the case of the last example, we happen to know 
historically the corresponding term in the Old Median 
tongue, from an eastern legend which has been preserved 
by Herodotus. He says, the shepherd's wife who 
brought up Cyrus was called Spako ; which term, in the 
Median language, is synonymous with the Greek jcuwv; 

G 



8-2 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

for the Medes call a bitch < spako' (i. 110). This word 
spako, which has been supposed to be a diminutive of 
spa, bears as near a resemblance as we could expect to 
Zend and the related languages : in the Russian Compa- 
rative Dictionary, of two hundred languages and dialects, 
the nearest word of the same meaning is the Russian 
sobaka, sabaka (Arndt, p. 185). 

One point in which Sclavonian comes nearer to Zend* 
than to Sanskrit is the use of sibilants : Sanskrit possesses 
only four, whilst Zend and Sclavonian possess six sibilants, 
and make the same plentiful use of them: their power 
would be best represented by the following combination of 
letters, si, zi, shi, tsi,tshi, je with the French sound of ^'. In 
Zend and Sclavonian, a sibilant is regularly substituted for 
a Sanskrit aspirate /i, and sometimes for other letters : 



Skr. 


z. 


Scl. 




hima 


zima 


zima 


hiems 


vahati 


vazaiti 


vezeti 


vehit 


aham 


azem 


az 


ego 


gam 


zanm 


zem 


yi}v 


hardaya 


— 


serdze 


Kap^ia 



With respect to labials, Schaffarik states that the Scla- 
vonians have only iv, b, p, and entirely dispense with the 
letter y* in genuine Sclavonian words : e. g. wru, ferveo ; 
bob, faba; bodu, fodio; peru, ferio; plamen, flamma, &c. 
(p. 36.) Although the Romans possessed the form of the 
letter^ it is remarkable that its utterance was very pecu- 
liar, and bore no resemblance to the soft sound of the 
Greek 0, or even to the iEolic digamma. I am not 

5 Aocording to Pott (vol. ii. p. 551), the Zend infinitive, like the Scla- 
vonian and Lithuanian, terminates in ti ; whilst the Sanskrit infinitive, like 
the Latin supine, ends in turn. 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 83 

aware that any philologist has attempted to define its pre- 
cise sound ; it is well known to have been very discordant, 
and rather resembled a violent whizzing between the teeth 
than any human articulation. Quinctilian thus describes 
it: "Nam et ilia (f), quae sexta est nostrarum, pene non 
humana voce, vel omnino non voce potius, inter discrimina 
dentium efflanda est ; quae etiam, cum vocalem proxima 
accipit, quassa quodammodo : utique, quoties aliquam con- 
sonantium frangit, multo fit horridior" (lib. xii. 10). Now, 
as there exists no doubt concerning the affinity of Latin 
with the Lithuanian and Russian languages, a comparison 
of some Latin word, whose initial is f, with the corre- 
sponding term in the cognate languages, may lead us to 
discover the true sound of that letter. The Latin word 
fera, wild beastt answers this purpose, as it corresponds with 
the Russian svera ; Lettish, svehrs ; and Old Prussian, 
svirs. Thus, in the mouth of an old Roman and a 
Russian, I have no doubt that the words svera, fera, would 
coincide in sound as they do in sense ; and the double 
consonant sv or zw exactly suits Quinctilian's description 
of the letter f, which the Greeks had great difficulty in 
pronouncing accurately : " Quin fordeum, fedusque, pro 
aspiratione, f vel simili litera utentes ; nam, contra, 
Grseci aspirare solent ^ ; ut, pro Fundanio, Cicero testem, 
qui primam ejus literam dicere non posset, irridet" 
(Quinctil. lib. i. 4). 

Also the word veho, in its ancient form vefo, comes 
much nearer in sound to the Russian vezu, and Zend 
vazami. Miiller has observed, that the Latin alphabet 
contains much that is quite foreign to the Greek : " The 
letter y coincides in sound neither with the ^olic digamma, 
which is V, nor yet with the Greek (f> ; although a number 

g2 



84 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

of words, whose initial in Greek is 0, have retained^ in the 
corresponding Latin terms : fagus, fama, fero, &c." ( Vol. i. 
p. 20.) This statement is only partially correct; the fact 
is. that in Latin there are two distinct sounds represented 
by the letter^ as will be shown more fully in the chapter 
on the Sabines. 

Hence, I cannot but think that Pott shows less than his 
usual discernment when he says, The identity of Orjp, 
High Germ, thier, A.-Sax. deor (fera), is still pro- 
blematical, on account of the Gothic dihzam (dat. pi. 
belluis) ; for although the High German r may regularly 
take the place of the Gothic z, yet the letter h in dihzam 
would find no sufficient illustration : also the identity, 
which Dobrowsky assumes (Institutimies SclavoniccE, p. 
138), between 07jp, fera, and Scl. swjerj, is any thing but 
self-evident; for although the Scl. selwj may correspond 
to the Greek x^Xuc, and therefore s to x? yet 5 would not 
on that account take the place of Q or f. (Vol. ii. p. 278.) 
Now, granting that a Sclavonian sibilant could never hold 
the place of d or / in the common acceptation, yet it is 
evident from Quinctilian, that the Latin / is sibilant in 
nature, and exactly equivalent to the Sclavonian sw. I 
plainly confess that I am at a loss to account for the 
appearance of the h in the Gothic dihzam, but 1 am not 
deterred on that account from maintaining the identity of 
that whole series; and the correctness of this view is shown 

by the following parallel : 

Goth. A.-Sax. O. H. G. N. H. CI. (;r. Lat. 

dihzam deor tior thier 6/»;p fera 

daur (lor tor thur Q^pa fores 

Also the Latin ol-us (ol-escere), under its older forms 
bolus, helus, folus, has the same root as 0aXXa., r^X.^aos 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 85 

to be green ; Scl. zelie (olus) ; Lith. zole; Lett. sale. (See 
Pott, vol. i. p. 141.) To these may be added the Old Prus- 
sian sali, lierb^ and the Sabine io\-mm, foliage. 

Although, as members of the Indo-European family, 
Sclavonian and German contain many roots in common, 
yet there exists a most striking diversity, particularly in 
structure, between the two languages. 

The Sclavonians prefix no article to their nouns; in 
which point they approach much nearer to the Latin, than 
to the Greek and German, which cannot stir without it. 
In the construction of sentences also, Sclavonian very 
nearly resembles the ancient Roman form, so that the 
Russian language admits of a much more elegant and 
literal translation of Latin authors, than can be effected in 
German. This circumstance is the more surprising, since 
the Russians, as members of the Greek church, have never 
been subject to the Roman law, or the Latin ritual of the 
Western church; whilst the German language, in conse- 
quence of the Latin influence over it, has always been cul- 
tivated after Roman models. (Arndt, p. 88.) 

In his " Comparative Grammar," Bopp observes, that 
the affinity of the Sclavonian with Sanskrit and its European 
sister languages has been long acknowledged, and that the 
coincidence in the personal terminations of the verbs is 
particularly striking. For instance, no one could doubt 
the coincidence of da-mj, da-si, das-tj, with the Sanskrit 
dadami, dadasi, dadati, and the analogous forms in Greek 
and Latin. But except in the single case of the Doric 
€<T-(T«, thou art, even Greek has lost the proper termination 
i of the second person singular : the Sclavonian alone, 
besides Sanskrit and Zend, has retained the full form si, in 
common use. However, by the side of the most striking 



86 ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 

coincidences in verbs, with the other Indo-European lan- 
guages, the Sclavonian most strangely presents a still 
greater dissimilarity in the declensions of its nouns. In 
philological investigations — in defining the nearer or re- 
moter affinity of diverse idioms, the point to be considered 
is not whether external diversities exist in certain parts of 
their sframmar, but whether these diversities cannot be 
reduced to general laws, and the concealed course be 
detected by which any language arrived ai its actual 
anomalous state. Diversities cease to be such, so soon as 
the laws are discovered by which the changes in a lan- 
guage are regulated. Such a law Bopp conceives that he 
has discovered in Sclavonian, which will satisfactorily ex- 
plain the diversity of its declension-type from that of its 
sister languages. It is this : that all original final conso- 
nants in polysyllabic words have disappeared ; and the con- 
sonants which now stand at the end of nouns, are final 
consonants of a second generation only, which have been 
produced by the loss of the original termination. The 
necessary effect of such a law must have been to produce a 
kind of philological revolution, and to stamp the Sclavo- 
nian with a character of exclusive peculiarity in the flexion 
of its nouns. The establishment of the truth of this law 
solves an important problem in the history of languages. 
It is only in extreme cases that we can admit of mixed 
languages, in respect to grammatical inflexions ; as these 
constitute the essential organization of a language ; for it 
is unnatural that a language should borrow forms from dif- 
ferent neighbours, and work up the materials into a motley 
compound. I have never yet seen the least reason for 
thinking, that completely new and peculiar inflexions have 
arisen in the later epochs of language. It is, therefore, of 



ON THE SCLAVONIAN LANGUAGES. 87 

consequence to have been able to show that the Sclavonian 
affords no exception, in this respect, to the fundamental 
principles of Philology ; and that its grammar contains 
nothing which is strictly peculiar, or which must have been 
drawn from some other than a Sanskrit source. With 
respect to general history, also, since the genealogy and 
antiquities of nations can be learnt only from the sure tes- 
timony of languages themselves, it is of no small import- 
ance to have obtained the conviction, through the appliance 
of Philology, that, without any extensive corruption of the 
language from heterogeneous races, the Sclavonians, as 
well as the Greeks, Romans, Germans, Old Prussians, and 
Lithuanians, belonged to that original people of Asia, whose 
language has been most nearly preserved in Sanskrit and 
Zend. (Bopp's Comp, Gram, Preface to Part II.) 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

Dialects of this inconsiderable but interesting family 
have been spoken from time immemorial in the countries 
round the south-east corner of the Baltic sea ; and may be 
comprehended, in a general way, under the names Lithu- 
anian, Lettish, and Old Prussian. Lithuanian Proper is 
the vernacular idiom of the ancient grand duchy of Lithu- 
ania : it has some curious points of connexion with the 
Greek, though under that peculiar form which distinguishes 
the Medo-European class of languages. Lettish is the dia- 
lect of the serfs in Livonia and Courland, and seems to hold 
an intermediate place ; whilst Old Prussian, which was for- 
merly spoken in Ducal or eastern Prussia, more nearly 
resembles the Latin. Vater, who is their great philologist 
and antiquarian, states, that " a people with this idiom 
(the Old Prussians) lived on the coast of the Baltic, be- 
tween the Vistula, the Pregel, and the IVIemel. The chief 
seat of the language was in Samland, between the Pregel 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 89 

and the western mouth of the Memel, in the Curische Haf ; 
the most westerly districts in which it was spoken, were 
partly desolated, and partly occupied by German settlers ; 
whilst the most southern provinces became united, either 
by force or by agreement, with the Lithuanians, and fought 
under their command against the German invaders \" 

Each of these three idioms is marked by characteristic 
peculiarities ; but there is a common similarity of language 
and customs, which unites the people that speak them in 
one family, and clearly distinguishes them from the German 
and Sclavonian races. From the extensive relations of 
Lithuania in the 14th century, its language has become the 
best known of the family ; but the Old Prussian is of equal, 
if not greater, importance to the philologist and historian. 
Rurik, who founded the modern empire of Russia in the 
ninth century, is said by Russian authors to have come from 
Prussia (Arndt, p. 98) ; and I shall show, from a compa- 
rison of languages and customs, that the still more powerful 
Romans sprang from the same stock as these tribes, which 
at present occupy so insignificant a place in the European 
commonwealth. 

About the 12th century, the Lithuanian name is intro- 
duced to our notice as that of a fierce and pagan nation, 
who were at constant war with the Poles ; and who, in the 
year 1235, had established an independent government under 
the title of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. About this 
period, the Poles were compelled to call in the assistance of 
the Teutonic order — a religious and military society, which 
derived its origin from the crusades. Among the Old 
Prussian tribes, whom the German knights met with on 

1 Die Sprache der alteu Preussen, pp. xiii. xxxi. 



90 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

this occasion, we find the Galindse and Sudeni, who are 
mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy (lib. iii. 5. a.d. 150) 
among the Wends of this region. But the pagan Lithu- 
anians maintained their ground against the enthusiasm and 
skill of these warrior priests ; and Olgerd, Grand Duke of 
Lithuania (1340-1373), extended his command from the 
Baltic to the Black Sea. In 1386, Jagellon, by right of 
marriage, ascended the throne of Poland und6r the bap- 
tismal name of Vladislas, and brought his Lithuanian 
subjects to a nominal profession of Christianity ; but even 
in the 16th century paganism was openly practised in 
whole districts of Lithuania, and to this day they preserve 
many relics of ancient heathen customs. 

The Prussians, whom the German knights encountered 
between the Vistula and the Memel, in the 13th century, 
were divided into eleven tribes, who lived independently of 
each other, but made common cause against the public 
enemy. The Poles, having invaded Prussia, with a view 
to its conversion, were driven to the necessity of calling in 
the assistance of the Teutonic order for their own preserva- 
tion. The German knights completed the subjugation of 
the various Prussian tribes in the north-west, and took 
possession of the country. Their government afterwards 
merged into the rising kingdom of Prussia, under Albert 
of Brandenburg, 152.5. During this interval, the Germans 
had established their own language ; and the Old Prussian 
dialect, even among the labouring class, has been long 
extinct. 

The Swedes, Danes, and Russians, had previously held 
some slight intercourse with the sequestered people of 
Livonia and Courland ; but it was not till the accidental 
arrival of the Germans, in the 12th century, that these 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 91 

tribes excited any attention. A Bremish vessel, which 
sailed in ] 158 for the isle of Gothland, was driven by a 
tempest into the gulf of Riga, near the mouth of the 
Duna. The immediate neighbourhood was inhabited by 
the Lives, a rude people, with whom the Germans began 
to traffic. Through this occurrence, the pagan state of the 
Lettons was noised abroad through Christendom. The 
spirit of the crusades was in operation ; and, under the 
influence of this spirit, the Pope issued indulgences in 
favour of such as would engage in the meritorious work of 
converting the heathen (1198) ; and a crusade to Livonia, 
to bring the pagan Lettons within the Christian fold, was 
placed on a footing with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land ^ 

On the arrival of the Germans in Livonia, the country 
was occupied by various kindred tribes, — the Lives, Let- 
tons, Lettgalli, Semigalli, &c. ; but the original inhabitants 
of all these districts belonged to an entirely different race, 
the Finns or Tchudes. The native name of the whole Fin- 
nish class is Same, or Suoma-laine, which signifies Fen 
people; and vestiges of this name, which survived long 
after the irruption of the Lettish tribes, bear testimony to 
a prior possession by Finns ; and the Finnish names, Sa- 
mogitia, Sam eland, &c. are in some degree preserved to 
the present day. Thunmann has shown that some Finns 
remained in Eastern Prussia so late as the year 1259 ; and 
the Esthonians, who still border upon Livonia, are undoubted 
remains of a former Finnish population. They call them- 
selves Esthes, and their land Esthi-ma ; and are the descend- 
ants of the ^iStii of Tacitus. That historian received accounts 



2 Essai Critique suv I'histoire de Livonie, vol. i. p. 93 ; Malte Brun, 
vol. vi. p. 512. 



92 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

that the amber trade, in his time, was conducted solely by 
the Finnish ^stii : these may indeed, as labourers, have 
been employed in collecting it ; but the profit and manage- 
ment of the trade had doubtless, long before, passed into the 
hands of the more enterprising Lettons and Prussians, as it 
was wrested from these in a later age by the more powerful 
Germans. His statement has induced some to believe that 
the ^stii were genuine Old Prussians ; but! his remark, 
that the language of the j^stii had a nearer affinity to the 
Celtic (Britannica) than to the Gothic (Suevica), is decisive 
of the question (Germania, c. 45) ; for the language of the 
Finns at the present day is more nearly allied to Celtic than 
to any other language, whilst the Old Prussian tongue, in 
its grammatical inflexions, bears a striking resemblance to 
the Old Gothic. Another point of distinction is, that the 
^stii reputed the boar as sacred to their divinity (insigne 
superstitionis, formas aprorum gestant) ; but it was the wolf 
that was held sacred among the Lettons and Romans. In 
addition, the modern Esthes or Esthonians, in the same 
neighbourhood, are unanimously allowed to belong to the 
Tchudic or Finnish race. 

The sequestered situation of the Lettish tribes, and their 
unfrequent intercourse with more civilized nations, are 
among the causes of the preservation of their language, and 
of their primitive customs, to a late period. In the year 
1613, a visitation of the churches in Livonia was held, the 
full particulars of which have reached us in the original 
Latin document, which is preserved in the archives of the 
town of Riga. It is there stated that more than half of the 
parishes, which are all of immense extent, were witliout a 
temple, and without a priest ; and in the account of certain 
outlying parishes it is said, " In these districts, on the con- 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 93 

fines of Russia, there exists hardly a single church. Immense 
tracts of forest are every where met with, in which the 
idolatrous Lettons live scattered and detached. They regard 
with reverence certain sacred trees, and assemble around 
them at stated periods. On solemn occasions, they sacrifice 
a black ox, a black cock, and finish with libations of beer. 
At the conclusion of the sacrifice, they eat, drink, and 
dance, in honour of their idols. Among their various objects 
of worship, they acknowledge one as the God of heaven, 
another as the God of the earth ; and numberless subor- 
dinate deities are charged each with a particular province : 
the fishery, the fields, the gardens, have respectively their 
superintending divinities ; the flocks, horses, and cows have 
each their tutelary god. The god of horses is denominated 
Usching ' ; that of cows, Moschel. Their off'erings consist 
of cakes, moulded into forms of difi'erent animals, as dogs, 
serpents. That their dead may not be incommoded by 
hunger, they place at the head a piece of bread, and another 
is put in the hand as a sop for the dog who is chained at 
the gates of Paradise ; a piece of money is added, to pay the 
ferryman for a passage over the gulf. In winter, a fagot 
is left on the grave, to comfort the soul of the departed." 
Essai Critique, vol. ii. p. 94. It is truly remarkable, that 
these duplicates of Charon and Cerberus, of Flora, Pomona, 
Bubona, Epona, &c. should have preserved their existence 
in Europe down to the 1 7th century. 

Rask, in his " Icelandic Essay," and Vater, in his " Old 
Prussian Treatise," state, that " the Lettish (Old Prussian) 
is nearly related to Sclavonian and German : it resembles 
the German more in the forms of grammar, and the Scla- 

' Compare Lith. aszwa, and Skr. ashwa, a horse. 



94 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

vonian in the mass of its words." (Vater, p. 26.) This sin- 
gular characteristic, which is peculiar to Old Prussian and 
Latin, may serve to throw some light on the origin of the 
Romans. The great similarity between some of the Gothic 
and Latin inflexions has induced a belief that the Goths 
must have constituted a portion at least of the earliest 
inhabitants of Italy. Yet no historical trace can be disco- 
vered of any such settlement ; and I am inclined to believe 
that they had no concern whatever with the Roman empire, 
except in its decline and fall ; and that they did not pass to 
the south of the Carpathian range, till within a compara- 
tively recent period. Professor Jakel, who has written a 
treatise expressly to show " The German Origin of the 
Latin Language and Roman People," is reduced to mere 
conjecture. " Hence we may assume (says he), that at a 
very early period — perhaps 2000 years before the Christian 
era — German tribes issued from Asia, and wandered towards 
the west ; they probably dwelt a long time on the north of 
the Danube, till an increased population induced one swarm 
to migrate northward into Sweden, and a second portion to 
turn towards the south. This latter tribe crossed the Danube 
and the Alps, and so passed into genial and fruitful Italy, 
which it never again left. I grant (he adds) that history 
says nothing on the point ; but it is also silent on the peo- 
pling of Scandinavia through a German race, which yet no 
one denies" (p. 9). 

Now, as a connexion between the Prussian Cures on the 
Curische Haf, and the Romans, can still be pointed out 
historically, and the affinity between Old Prussian and 
Latin is just as striking on other points, 1 am inclined to 
think that the Gothic portion, also, of Latin was introduced 
into Italy by Old Prussian tribes, without the intervention 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 95 

of any Gothic settlers. From the name of the two people, 
the affinity of their languages, and the perfect identity of 
many of their customs, I am led to the conviction that the 
Sabines were of Prussian origin, and formed that part of 
the Roman people which introduced the peculiarities of the 
Lettish language and customs. The Lithuanians and Old 
Prussians hold a distinct and independent place among na- 
tions and languages ; but they are more nearly related to 
the Sclavonians and Wends than to any other people. Thus 
the Prussian Sabines might easily coalesce with the Scla- 
vonian Wends and the Medo- Grecians ; whilst it is almost 
inconceivable that the Goths, of a totally distinct race, 
should force the grammar of their language upon Latin 
tribes who retained their Sclavonian vocabulary. The 
Prussian descent of the Sabines will be more conveniently 
discussed when I come to treat of the Italian tribes (Part 
iii. c. 4). I shall here merely allude to the traffic in amber, 
which, from the remotest times, has formed a ground of 
connexion between the Baltic and Adriatic. 

The Prussians and Cures, when first brought into notice, 
occupied the shores of the Baltic, from the Vistula to the 
Duna. Although amber, the natural production of this 
coast, was so eagerly sought after from the remotest times, 
and exercised the poetical genius of classical antiquity in 
the legend of Eridanus and the Heliades, yet the people 
themselves, who supplied the precious substance, escaped 
observation ; and their early history remains yet to be deci- 
phered by the philologist and antiquarian. In Prussia, 
amber is not confined to the sea-coast : it is also dug up in 
places from which the sea has retired ; for the Baltic, or at 
least its marshy flats, in the first ages, extended much far- 
ther to the south. Tacitus says, that the iEstii collected 



96 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

amber among the shallows, as well as on the shore itself 
(succinum inter vada Suevici maris atque in ipso littore 
legunt). These shallows have been much filled up in tbe 
course of time, and are now confined to the Frische and 
Curische Haf. " Two lakes, the Frische Haf and Curische 
Haf, may be considered the most remarkable phenomena 
in the physical geography of Prussia. They cannot be 
strictly termed gulfs or bays, for the water is fresh; nor 
lakes, for they have a direct communication with the Baltic 
by navigable straits. The Curische Haf is not less than 
sixty-six miles in length ; and its breadth varies from fifteen 
to thirty. The Curische Nerung * — the strip of land which 
divides it from the open sea — is narrower but more elevated 
than that which confines the Frische Haf. Frische Haf 
signifies « fresh-water bay ;' the Curische Haf is so called 
from the ancient Cures, who inhabited its banks." Malte 
Brun, 

In the most ancient times, amber was brought from a 
river Eridanus in this locality, to the river Po on the 
Adriatic, where it found an outlet to distant nations, 
Greece, Phenicia, &c. If the name Eridanus ever actually 
belonged to the river Po, it was certainly brought from the 
north ; but it may have arisen from the confused notion of 
foreigners, who knew that amber came in the first instance 
from a river Eridanus ; and as they could trace its origin 
no further back than to the mouth of the Po, they may at 
their distance have transferred the name of the true amber- 
bearing Eridanus to the river best known to themselves. 



* I offer the conjecture, that the word nerung is equivalent to our ' break- 
water,' and that it is derived from the Sabine (or Old Prussian) term neriene, 
strength, bravery; nero, a stron? or brave man. See the chapter on the 
Sabines. 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 97 

The account given by Herodotus makes this subject quite 
clear : " I cannot believe," says he, " that there is a river, 
by the barbarians named Eridanus, which flows into the 
northern sea, and from which, by all accounts, our amber 
comes; for, in the first place, with respect to the name, 
the form Eridanus proves that it is no barbarian term, but 
a good Greek word, probably invented by some poet ; and, 
in the next place, with respect to the northern sea, I could 
never meet with any one who would vouch from personal 
knowledge that there is a sea in that part of Europe ; it is 
certain, however, that our amber comes from those remote 
regions" (iii. 115). We are deeply indebted to Herodotus 
for this notice ; but we may be allowed to give as little 
credit to his derivation of the word Eridanus, as to his 
doubts concerning the existence of the Baltic. The name 
Eridanus is of Pelasgian origin, and was probably as much 
altered from its original form by the classical Greeks, as 
the Greek Euphrates varies from the eastern Phrat. Some 
writers, however, think that the word Eridanus contains 
the element don, which signifies water among the Cau- 
casian Ossetes, and enters so often into the names of rivers 
in the east of Europe : Don, Donaets, Donau (Danube), 
Dnieper, Dniester, Duna ; and it has been suggested that 
the classical Eridanus is now represented by the modern 
Radaune, which joins the Vistula near Dantzic, and on the 
banks of which amber is still plentifully found ^ 

To judge correctly of the Old Prussian idiom, we ought 
to possess compositions in it of an age previous to the Ger- 
man conquest in the thirteenth century ; from which period 
it began to be corrupted by the introduction of Ger- 

5 Arndt, p. 117, 174. Ritter, p. 304. 
H 



98 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

manisms. But the language contains no literature of that 
kind as far as we are acquainted with it ; indeed, the only 
known records are one or two translations of catechisms 
made from the German in the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
tury. At that period the natives had long been subject to 
German influence, and the German style of course pre- 
dominates in the translations. These documents are fortu- 
nately of a nature to contain many ideas relating to common 
life ; so that we possess a tolerably extensive vocabulary of 
Old Prussian words; but we can no more judge of its pecu- 
liar idioms and distinctive character from these translations, 
than we could form a correct opinion of the classical lan- 
guages from the Vulgate and Septuagint versions of the 
Scriptures, which are full of Hebraisms. 

The use of the demonstrative pronoun stas, stai, sta, to 
supply the want of the definite article ^ whilst the corre- 
sponding word tas in Lithuanian and Lettish is not so used, 
is, I conceive, rightly attributed by Vater (p. 86) entirely 
to the effects of German influence. We have an exactly 
parallel case in a few Sclavonian dialects : the Sclavonian 
idioms, as I have already observed in the last chapter, 
resemble the Latin in possessing no article; yet Schafta- 
rik states (p. 35) that a few Germanising dialects or, to 
speak more correctly, some Germanist writers in Lusatia, 
Carniola, and Styria, supply the place of the article by the 
demonstrative pronoun Ten, ta, to : Ta, ta, to. 

The Old Prussian, like the Sclavonian, Lithuanian, 
and Lettish, possesses no f^ but supplies its place by the 
whizzing sound sv already mentioned ; and, like the Latin, 

fi In Greek and German, the demonstrative pronoun has taken the place 
of the article, which is foreign to Skr. and Z., as also to Lat., Lith..and Scls- 
vonian.— Bopp, p. 489. 

12 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 99 

it has no z. In parts of its grammar it shows marks of 
great philological antiquity. In the former chapter I stated 
from Bopp, that Sclavonian was the only language which 
retained in common use the full termination si of the 
second person singular ; but it is remarkable enough that 
the second person, under the forms se, sei, si, is the only 
inflexion in the singular number of Prussian verbs : e. g. 
giva, Hive ; givassi, thou livest; giva, he liveth. Also, in the 
termination smu of the dative case singular in all pronouns 
of the third person, it resembles the older languages : 
Skr. ka-smai, to whom ; Z. ka-hmai ; O. Pr. ka-smu ; 
Goth, hva-mma : Skr. ta-smai, to him ; O. Pr. tenne-smu ; 
Goth, tha-mma. Some original forms of verbal inflexions 
in Old Prussian have been preserved unaltered in the so- 
called irregular verbs : eisei, thou goest ; eit, he goeth : dase, 
thou givest; dast, he giveth \ The verb substantive is thus 
conjugated: asmau, assei, ast, pi. asmai, astai, ast; infin. 
bout, to he. 

I shall dismiss the Old Prussians for the present with 
some specimens of their interesting, but little known lan- 
guage, taken from the translations of the German cate- 
chisms already mentioned ; and in order to render them 
more intelligible, I shall prefix two or three of the most 
common grammatical forms. 

Sing. Plur. I Sing. Plur. 

Nom. wyrs, a man ^vyrai | genna, woman gennai 

Gen. wyras 

Dat. ^ ( wirins 

I wyran \ 

Ace. ) ( wyrimans 

Voc. wyre wyrai 



gennas 

( gennamans 
gennan \ 

{ gennans 



genna 

'' Compare the present tense of the verb to give in the kindred languages, 
Part I. ch. iv., sub fin. Lith. eimi (eo) ; Skr. emi ; Gr. tZ/ii. 

H 2 



100 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 





Sing. 


Plur. 


Sing. 


Plur. 


Nom. 


as,/ 


mes, we 


tu, thou 


jous, you 


Gen. 


maisei 




twaise 




Dat. 


mennei 


noumans 


tebbei 


joumans 


Ace. 


mien 


mans 


tien 


wans 


Demonstrative pronoun used as the definite article : 




Sing. 


Plur. 


Sing. 


Plur. 


Nom. 
Gen. 


stas 
stessei 


stai 
stetsons 


1. dniwe, J6e?»epeM , ,. 

^ believe 


Dat. 


stesmu 


steimans 


2. druwese 


druwetei 


Ace. 


Stan 


stans 


3. druwe 


druwe 



The infinitive mood ends in -t, -ton, or -twei : the par- 
ticiple active ends in -ns, the passive in -ts. 

Thou not shalt other gods beside me have. 
Tou ni turri kittans Deiwans pagar mien turritwei. 

What is this said ? Answer. • 

Ka ast sta billiton ? Ettrais. 

We should ^ God the Lord above all 

Mes turrimai Deiwan stan Rikyan kirscha wissan 

thing^ fear and love have, and him 

powystin biatwei bhe my Ian turit, bhe stesmu 

trust. 
auschauditwei. 

I beheve in God, Father all-mighty, who is 

As druwe en Deiwan, Tawan wisse-musingin, kas ast 

creator of heaven and earth, 
teikuuns dangon bhe semmien. 

What is this said? 
Ka ast sta billiton? 

I believe that me God created has, with all 
As druwe kai mien Deiws teikuuns ast, sen wissans 

creatures : to me a body and soul, eyes, ears, 

pergimmans : mennei kermenan bhe dusin, ackins, ausins 

and all members, reason, and all senses 

bhe wissans streipstans, isspressennien, bhe wissans seilins 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 101 

given has, and still preserves ; that to this, clothes and 
dauns ast, bhe dabber islai ; ka prei stan, rukans bhe 

shoes, eating and drinking, house and yard, wife 

kurpins, ist bhe putoii, buttan bhe burwalkan, gennan 

and children, land, cattle, and all goods, with 

bhe malnykans, laukan, pecku, bhe wissans labbans, sen 

all needs and nourishment of this body 

wissan preweringiskan bhe maitasnan schieise kermenes 

and life, richly and daily provides, and 

bhe giwas, laimiskai bhe deineniskai persurgawi, bhe 

against all evil protects and defends : and this 

pryki wissan wargan pokunti bhe popeckuwi: bhe stan 

all from pure, fatherly, divine goodness 

wissan is kalsiwingiskan, tawiskan, deiwutiskan labbiskan 

and grace, without any my merit and 

bhe etnistin, sehlait wissan maian perschlusisnan bhe 

worth ; for which aU I to him to thank 

wertingiskan ; per kawidan wissan as steismu prei dinkaut 

and to praise, and for this to serve and 

bhe prei girtwei, bhe per stan prei schlusitwei bhe 

obedient to be owing am : this is truly 

poklusman bout schkellants asmai : sta ast perarwisku 

true. 
arwi. 

Pater noster, who thou art in heaven. 
Tawa iiouson, kas tu assei en dangon. 

God wiUs with such us to call, that we 

Deiws qiioi sen stavvidsmu mans wackitwei, kai mes 

believe should, he is our proper father, and we 
druwit turrimai, tans ast nouson tickars tawas, bhe mes 

his proper children : for this, that we boldly 

tenneison tickrai malnykai : no stan, kai mes glandewingei 

and with all confidence him pray should, as 

bhe sen wissan auschaudisnan tennan madlit turrimai, kaigi 

the dear children their dear father, 
stai mylai malnykai swaian mylan tawan. 

What sins should one confess ? 

Kavvidans grikans turedi grikaut ? 

Before God one should of all sins oneself guilty 
Pirs dau Deiwau turridi wissans grikans sien skellants 



102 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 



allow, also those of which we even not are conscious, 
daturisi, digi stans kans mes digi ni ersinnimai, 

as we in Pater noster do. But before 

kaigi mes en Tawa nouson se^gemai. Adder pirsdau 

the Confessor should we alone the 

stesmu Klausiwingin turrimai mes 

sins avow which we 

grykaiis posinnat kawydans mes 



terams stans 



know 
waidimai 



and 
bhe 



feel in our 

poprestemmai en nouson 

they ? 
stai ? 

Then inspect thy 

Stwi endiris twaian 

ten commandments, 

dessimtons pailaipsans, 

son. 



heart, 
syran. 



condition 
bausennien 



Which 
Kawidai 



are 
ast 



by 
po 



the 
steimans 



whether thou father, mother, 
anga tu taws, muti, 

daughter, master, mistress, serv'^ant art, whether thou 
souns, duckti, rikys, supuni, waix assei, anga ton 

not obedient not true not diligent hast 

ni poklusmings ni isarwis ni seilewingis assei 

been ; whether thou to any one e\il hast done 
bouuns ; anga ton ainontsmu wargan assei seggiuns 

with words or deeds ; whether thou stolen 

sen w^irdemmans adder dilins ; anga tu ranguns 

lost neglected skaith hast done, 

pertenniums ni pokuntuns schkudan assei seggiuns. 

In the morning, when thou out thy bed 

Angstainai, kaden tou is twaiasmu lastin 

risest, shouldst thou thee bless with the holy 

etskisai, turri tou tien siggnat sen stesmu swintan 

cross and say : So help God, Father, Son, and 

scrisin bhe billit : Stwi galbse Deiws, Taws, Souns, bhe 

Holy Ghost ! 
Swints Noseilis ! 

After that, kneehng or standing, the Creed 

No Stan, poquelbton adder stanintei, stan Druwien 

and Pater noster; wilt thou, so mayst thou this 
bhe Tawa nouson: iquoi tu, tit massi tu schin 

prayer to that say; I thank thee, my 

madlikan prei stan gerbt: As dinckama tebbei, mais 



ON THE LrraUANIAN LANGUAGES. 103 

heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ thy dear 

dengnennissis Taws, pra Jesum Christum twaian miian 

Son, that thou me this night against all 

Sounan, kai tu mien schen naktin pirsdau wissan 

harm and evil hast protected ; and I pray thee 
skudan bhe wargan assei pokuntuns ; bhe madli tien 

thou wouldst me this day also protect against 
tou quoitilaisi mien schan deinan deigi pokunst pirsdau 

sin and all -evil, that thee all my action and 
grikan bhe wissan wargan, kai tebbei wissa maia segisna bhe 

hfe please ; for I commit me, my body 

giwan podingai ; beggi as polaipinna mien, maian kermenen 

and soul, and all into thy hands ; thy 

bhe dousin, bhe wissan en twaians rankans ; twais 

holy angel be with me, that the evil fiend 

swints engels bausei sen maim, kai stas wargs preisiks 

not a power over me gain. 

ni ainan warrin en mien aupallai. Amen. 

And after so, with joy to thy 

Bhe pansdau titet, sen wesiiskan prei twaian 

work be gone, and a chant having sung as 

dilan gubas, bhe ainan grimikan grimons kaigi 

the ten commandments, or what thy thought 

stans dessimtons pallaipsans, adder ka twaia seilisku 

supplieth. 
dast. 

The children and servants should with folded 

Stai malnykai bhe seirains turri sen senditmai 

hands and orderly before the table to step and 
rankan bhe kanxtei pirsdau stan stallan trapt bhe 

say : All eyes wait on thee, O Lord, and thou givest 

billit : Wissas ackis gieidi no tien, Rikys, bhe tu dase 

them their food in its season; thou 

steimans tenneison landan prei swaian kerdan; tou 

openest thy hand and satisfiest all which there 

etwera twaian rankan bhe satuinei wissan ka stwi 

liveth with (their) desire, 

giwe sen labba podingausnan. 



104 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

Then the Pater noster and this following 

Pansdau stan Tawa nouson bhe schan ripintinton 

prayer : 
madlin : 

O God, Lord, heavenly Father, bless us and 

O Deiwe, Rikys, dengnennis Taws, signats mans bhe 

these thy gifts which we of thy 

schiens twaians daians kawidans mes esse twaian 

tender goodness to us take through Jesus 

deigiskan labban prei mans immimai pra Jesum 

Christ our Lord. 

Christum nouson Rikyan. Amen. 

So also after eating should they likewise do. 

Tit dygi po idin turri stai ainawidisku siggit, 

orderly with com-posed hands stand and say : 

kanxtai sen sen-ditans rankans stallit bhe billitwei : 

Thank the Lord, for he is kind, and 

Dinkauti stesmu Rikyan, beggi tans ast ginnewings, bhe 

his goodness endureth for ever ; who to all 

swaia labbisku weraui en prabutskan ; kas wismu 

flesh food giveth, who to the cattle its fodder 

mensen landan dast, kas stesmu pecku swaian perdin 

giveth, to the young ravens which him invoke, 
dast, steimans maldans warnins quai tennen enwacke. 

He not has pleasure in the strength of the 
Tans ni turri podingan en stessei spartisku steisei 

horse, nor delight in any one's legs ; the 

russas, neggi podingausnan no ainontsi kaulan; stas 

Lord hath pleasure in those who him fear, and 
Rikys turri podingan en steimans quoi tennan bia, bhe 

who on his goodness wait, 
quai no swaian labiskan geide. 

Ye children be obedient to your elders 

lous malnykai seiti poklusmingi iousinu vraisin 

in the Lord, for this is right. Honour father 

en Rikyan, beggi sta ast preistalliwingi. Smuninais tawan 

and mother; this is the first commandment which 

bhe mutien; sta ast stas pirmonnis pallaips kawyds 



ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 



105 



a promise 



eit, bhe ilga 

Hearken 
Klausieiti 



has, namely, that to thee well 

potaukisnan turei, issprettingi, kai tebbei labban 

it go, and long thou live on earth. 

giwasi no semmien. 

to your teachers, and follow 

iousons mukiimewins, bhe ripaiti 

them, for they watch over your soul, 

tenneimans, beggi tennei bude kirscha iousan dusin, 

as who there account for it to give have : 

kai quai stwi reckenausnan per stan dat turri : 

in order that they it with joy do, and 

no Stan kai tennei stan sen tuldisnan segge, bhe 

not with grief, for this to you not is 

ni sen nadewisin, beggi sta ioumas ni ast 

good, 
labban. 

Thus spake God to the woman : I will to thee 
Tit billa Deiws prei gennan : as quoi tebbe 

great sorrow make when thou pregnant 

toulan gulsennin teickut kan ton senbrendekermnen 

art : thou shalt with sorrow children 

postasei : tu turri sen gulsennien malnykans 

bear : and thy desire shall to thy husband 

gemton : bhe twais quaits turri twaiasmu wyran 

subject be, and he shall thy lord 

pomests bauton, blie tans turri twais rikys 

be. And to the man spake God : because 

bout. Bhe prei wiran billa Deiws: stankisman 

that thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy 

kai tou assai klausiuns stesmu tarin twaiasei 



wife, and eaten of the tree, 

gennan, bhe iduns esse stesmu garrin, 

I to thee commanded and said, thou 
as tebbei laipinna bhe billai, tu 

it eat. Cursed be the 

stesmu ist, Perklantits bouse stas 

sake: with trouble shalt 

paggan : sen alkinisquai turei 

it support so long thou hvest : 

Stan pomaitat ku ilgimai giwassi: 



of which 

esse kawidsmu 

not shalt of 
ni turri esse 

ground for thy 
laucks twaise 

thou thee on 
tou tien no 

thorns and 
kaaubri bhe 



106 ON THE LITHUANIAN LANGUAGES. 

thistles shall it to thee produce, and thou shalt the 
strigli turrei tans tebbei pyst, bhe turrei stan 

herb on the ground eat ; in the sweat of thy 

salin no stan laukan istwei; en prakaisnan twaise 

face shalt thou thy bread eat, so long till 
prosnan turri tu twaian geitin istwei, stu ilgimi kai 

thou again to earth become, from which 

tu etkumps prei semman postasei, esse kawidsmu 

thou taken wast : for thou art earth f and shalt 
tou animts assai : beggi ton asse semme bhe turei 

to earth become. 

prei semmien postatwei. 

Thus it stands written : God created the man 

Titet stalli peisaton : Deiws teiku stan smunentin 

to him self in likeness : yea to hkeness 

sebbei supsmu en prusnanpoligon : ia prei prusnaspoligun 

of God created he him ; he created them a 

Deiwas teiku tans tennan; tans teiku tennans ainan 

man and woman, and God blessed them 
wyrikan bhe gannikan, bhe Deiws signal tennans 

and said to them : Be fruitful and multiply 

bhe billats prei dins : Seiti weysewingi bhe tuliiinaiti 

you and replenish the earth, and make to you 
wans bhe erpilninaiti stan semmien, bhe tickinnaiti ioumas 

the same subjected ; and rule over fish 

Stan siibban pomettewingi ; bhe rikauite kirsa suckans 

in sea, over the fowls under heaven, and 

en iurin, kirsa stans pippalins po dangon, bhe 

over all beasts which on earth creep; and 

kirsa wissans swirins kas no semmien lise ; bhe 

God looked on all which he had created, and 

Deiws endeira wissan kan tans bei teikuuns, bhe 

look there, it was all very good. 

dereis stwi, sta bei wissan sparts labban. 

God give you his peace. 

Deiws dase ioumas swaian packun. Amen. 



CHAPTER III 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

The German family of dialects is divided into two great 
classes, the Upper and Lower, which are distinguished by 
the character of their pronunciation, by their relation to 
different families of languages, and by their local situation. 
The Upper German is known by its hissing, guttural, and 
harsh sounds ; is spoken in the mountainous regions of the 
south; and is related to Greek and Persian — whilst the 
Lower German is more nearly allied to Latin and Sanskrit ; 
is the language of the lower districts in the north ; and is 
characterised by a soft pronunciation, and a dislike to all 
harsh combinations of sounds. 

The following vow of an Old Low Saxon warrior to 
devote all his captives in sacrifice to Wodan, exemplifies 
most of the leading distinctions between the Upper and 
Lower dialects * : — 

' Quoted in Meidinger's Deutschen Volkstamme, p. 210. 



108 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

rHilli krotti Wondana ! Ik slakte 
Low Germ, j ^^^^ ^^^^ Wodan! I slay 

High Germ. — Heilig grosser Wodan ! Ich schlachte 

r ti all Fanka up tinen illiken Artesberka. 
(,to thee aU captives upon tliine holy Asburg. 

dir alle gefangene auf deiiiem heiligen Artesberg. 

( 

The Lower German division of this family comprises 
(1) the Old Gothic; (2) the Scandinavian, consisting of 
Danish, Swedish, Icelandic; (3) the Low German with 
its various dialects, the Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, Anglo- 
Saxon, &c. Concerning the relation of these idioms to 
other families of languages, native writers have made the 
following observations. " When I am reading the Gothic 
of Ulphilas (says Bopp), I could fancy I had Sanskrit 
before me :" and Fr. Schlegel remarks that " Low German 
has principally preserved the Sanskrit forms." Arndt states 
that " the words, which are common to Latin and Scla- 
vonian with German, belong far more to the Lower than 
to the Upper German dialects." This whole class of the 
Lower German dialects I have called the Medo- German, 
as already explained, in contradistinction to the L^pper 
German dialects, which constitute, in the same nomencla- 
ture, the Perso-German division. These terms are very 
convenient, when used in relation to the whole Indo- 
European class; but in discussing the German family 
exclusively of the rest, the Germans may prefer more 
local and national names, and I would suggest the use of 
the terms Gothic and Teutonic. The Goths of Odin were 
among the earliest Low German settlers in Europe ; and 
Teutones may be very suitably applied to the Upper 
Germans, on account of its similarity to the High Ger- 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 109 

man national name Teiitsche, as contrasted with the Low 
German Deutsche. 

A review of the various German idioms has brought 
Arndt to the following conclusions : — For very many ages 
there have existed in Europe two remarkably different 
German languages, which, for general purposes, may very 
well be distinguished by the name of the soft and the hard 
dialects of Germany. The former appears to have spread 
at a much earlier period, and to a much greater extent into 
this quarter of the globe, as may be inferred from the situa- 
tion of the countries in which, to the present day, the Low 
German and the other soft German dialects prevail. It is 
reasonable to suppose that this soft dialect had long been 
native in ancient Germany, and still longer had been in 
possession of the German north and the banks of the Rhine, 
when the hard dialect broke in from the east, and dispos- 
sessed the Old German idioms (p. 106). This soft dialect 
evidently reached its present position from the Black Sea ; 
the hard or later German probably entered Europe by 
Thrace. 

That the Lower and Upper dialects of German were 
originally distinct, and preserved their peculiar character- 
istics throughout the different stages of their culture, will 
appear more plainly from the following table, in which the 
Gothic or Old Low German words vary from the Teutonic 
or Old High German in the same points, in which the 
modern Low German words differ from the New High 
German. In the table, Gothic is placed first, not because 
it is the oldest, but because the records preserved in it are 
of greater antiquity than those existing in any other Low 
German dialect 



110 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 



Daughter 
door 
day 
dale 
dove 
people 
foot 
heart 
tear 
ten 
tooth 
water 
to eat 
to call 
to mete 
to dip 
to drink 
to sleep 
to do 
a deed 



Gothic or Old 
Low Germ. 

dauhtar 

daur 

dags 

dais 

dubo 

laudeis 

fotus 

hairto 

tagr 

taihun 

thuiitus 

vato 

etan 

haitan 

mitan 

daupjan 

drinkan 

slepan 

doan 

deds 



Modern 
Low Germ. 

dochter 

dor 

dag 

dal 

due 

leod 

fot 

heort 

taare 

tehn 

tedn 

waeter 

eten 

heiten 

meten 

deofan 

drinken 

slapen 

doen 

doed 



Teutonic or Old 
High Germ. 

tohtar 

tor 

tac 

tal 

touba 

liuti 

vuoz 

herza 

zahar 

zehan 

Zand 

wazar 

ezzan 

heizan 

mezan 

touQan 

trinchan 

slafan 

tuon 

tat 



New 
High Germ. 

toehter 

thur 

tag 

thai 

taube 

leute 

fuss 

herz 

zahre 

zehn 

zahn 

wasser 

essen 

heissen 

messen 

taufen 

trinken 

schlafen 

thuD 

that 



For an illustration of the last words doan^ tuon, see Bopp's 
" Vocalismus," p. 75, and Pott, vol. i. p. 187. 



According to Grimm's law, where the older languages 
use a medial, a tenuis should be found in the corresponding 
Gothic word, e. g. Lat. decem, Goth, taihun ; but in the 
above list, and in the examples given. Part I. ch. iii., will be 
found many instances in which the Gothic retains the medial 
of the older languages ; to this extent, therefore, the Gothic, 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 



Ill 



with the Low German dialects, must rank among the Medo- 
European languages, though its own peculiar law of using 
tenues for the older medials determines it to be the youngest 
member of that class. 

There seems to exist a curious relation between Greek 
and Gothic or Low German, with respect to medials, which 
I will now state, though I am not able to account for it. Of 
the two parts into which I have divided Greek ^, the Medo- 
Grecian portion is distinguished in the use of its medials 
from the Perso -Grecian. The Gothic analogues of Medo- 
Grecian words follow their own peculiar law in substituting 
tenues for medials, and are proper Gothic; whilst the 
Gothic analogues of Perso-Grecian words retain the medial, 
and are Medo-Gothic. This observed fact holds sufficiently 
to constitute a law, which might lead to important historical 
conclusions, if it could be fully explained and translated out 
of its philological terms, like the result of a mathematical 
calculation from its algebraical symbols. 





EXAMPLES. 






Medo-Grecian. 


Goth. Proper. 


Perso-Grecian. 


Medo-Gothic 


v8wp 


vato 




9vyaTT]p 


dauhtar 


de^ioQ 


taihsvo 




6vpa 


daur 


TTodeg 


fotus 




o-(ppvQ 


bra 


aypoQ 


akrs 




vt(pi\r} 


nibl 


yovv 


kniu 




xnv 


gans 


fityaXoQ 


mikils 




xOeg 


gistra 



Pott remarks that the small number of Sanskrit roots 
beginning or ending with the medial b, is very surprising ; 
with which fact appears to be connected the lack of genuine 



^ See Part I. ch. iii. note 4. 



112 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

German words beginning in Gothic with a corresponding/?, 
and in High German with f. The few Sanskrit roots with 
h retain the older medial in Gothic, and Grimm's law is not 
valid in this case. Vol. i. p. 110. This statement will 
account for my not producing examples of the Medo-Gre- 
cian Z>, and corresponding Gothic /?. 

Gothic. — Among the earliest authors whft mention the 
Goths is Pytheas (in Piin. H. N. xxxvii. 11), who, in the 
fourth century, B.C. made a voyage of discovery to the 
north. On the amber coast he found the Guttones, a 
German tribe; and in their neighbourhood, the island of 
Abalus or Baltia. There can be little doubt but that the 
terms Guttones and Baltia are related to the names, Goths 
and Baltic, which still exist in those regions ; and Abalus 
may possibly be the present Abo. The Goths of the coast, 
it is said, sold the amber to the nearest Teutons ; these 
Teutons were evidently an inland tribe of a different race, 
and belonged, probably, to that class which spoke the harsh 
or Upper German in the mountainous districts of the 
interior. 

Tacitus had heard, though he received the account with 
incredulity, that Ulysses, in the course of his long and 
romantic wanderings, reached Germany, and built a city 
on the Rhine, which he named kcTKiirvgyiov, Asciburgium 
(Germ. c. 3). This fable is generally supposed to have 
arisen from some confused account of the migration of the 
elder Odin and his Asse from the east ; for the Scandinavian 
legends relate that Odin came out of Asia on a far journey 
to the north: that he first settled in Saxony, and from 
thence passed over into Sweden, where he introduced the 
arts of civilization, and established law and religion on a 
firmer basis ; on which account he was revered during life, 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 113 

and worshipped after death. His attendants were the fore- 
fathers of the Danes, Swedes, Norwegians (Snorro Sturle- 
son in Ynglinga Saga, c. 2 — 10). Now a wandering hero 
is a common character in the early history of many nations; 
and by the ancients such a personage, wherever found, was 
always identified with their own Hercules or Ulysses, 
according to circumstances. In the present case, if Odin 
was the name actually mentioned, it would at once suggest 
to Roman or Grecian ears the name and adventures of their 
own Odysseus ; and that idea would be confirmed by the 
subsequent mention of inscriptions in Greek characters, 
which were said to exist in the same neighbourhood '. 

According to Strabo (lib xi.), on the eastern side of the 
Palus Mseotis, near the Bosphorus, lived the considerable 
tribe of the AairovpyiavoL (Asburgiani, Asa-burger : As- 
gard, Asof) ; and in the oldest times the whole eastern 
coast, from the Bosphorus to the Tanais (Strabo vii. and 
xi.), was called Asia, in a limited and peculiar sense, which 
Ritter states is " holy land" or Asa-land of the companions 
of Odin. As, Asse, was the name of the heroic and sacred 
race which accompanied Odin to Scandinavia from the East ; 
and Midum-heime (Meder-heimath or Medes-home) was 
the name given by the western emigrants to Asa-land, or 
Asaheimur, the country which they left. Such is the 
account of Ritter (Vorhalle, pp. 300. 472), who adds : 
Casaubon, in his note on the passage of Strabo referred to, 
says, that this district on the Palus Mseotis seems " Asise 
nomen ut proprium sibi vindicasse ;" and Berkelius, in his 
edition of Stephanus Byzant. (p. 184), states, that " this 
Asia, from Indice to the Tanais, cannot refer either to Asia 

' Sec Fr. Schlegel's History of Literature, Lecture vi. 

I 



114 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

Major or Asia Minor, but must itself constitute an Asia 
Propria, from which those Aspurgiani derived their name, 
as occupiers of the citadel" (rrvpyog, i. e. arx). 

The Asa-land, and As-gard or Askerta of Scandinavia, 
and the Asci-burgium of Saxon Odin on the Rhine, cer- 
tainly derived their name from the Asburgiani (Asaburger, 
people of Asof or As-hof), in the district caljred Asa-land 
or Asia on the Tanais. But the very existence of Asgard 
in " Asiatic Sarmatia" has been called in question, in con- 
sequence of the poetical form in which the history of the 
Goths, who conquered Rome, has been moulded by subse- 
quent authors ; and the earthly city of Asgard, the capital 
of the Asse, has been resolved into the mystic abode of the 
gods, the Olympus of Scandinavia ; whence the prophet was 
supposed to descend when he announced his new religion 
to the Gothic nations. 

The native and proper habitation of Odin, says the his- 
torian Gibbon, is distinguished by the appellation of Asgard. 
The happy resemblance of that name with Asburg or Asof, 
words of a similar signification, has given rise to an his- 
torical system of so pleasing a contexture, that we could 
almost wish to persuade ourselves of its truth. It is sup- 
posed that Odin was the chief of a tribe of barbarians which 
dwelt on the banks of the lake Mseotis, till the fall of 
Mithridates, and the arms of Pompey menaced the north 
with servitude : that Odin, yielding with indignant fury 
to a power which he was unable to resist, conducted his 
tribe from the frontiers of the Asiatic Sarmatia into Sweden, 
with the great design of forming, in that inaccessible retreat 
of freedom, a religion and a people, which, in some remote 
age, might be subservient to his immortal revenge ; when 
his invincible Goths, armed with martial fanaticism, should 

12 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 115 

issue in numerous swarms from the neighbourhood of the 
polar circle, to chastise the oppressors of mankind. This 
wonderful expedition of Odin, observes the historian, by 
deducing the enmity of the Goths and Romans from so 
memorable a cause, might supply the noble groundwork of 
an epic poem, but cannot safely be received as authentic 
history. According to the obvious sense of the Edda, and 
the interpretation of the most skilful critics, Asgard, instead 
of denoting a real city of the Asiatic Sarmatia, is the fic- 
titious appellation of the mystic abode of the gods, the 
Olympus of Scandinavia; from whence the prophet was sup- 
posed to descend when he announced his new religion to 
the Gothic nations, who were already seated in the southern 
parts of Sweden (ch. x.). 

It might add something to the propriety of this subject 
for an epic poem, as pointed out by Gibbon, to observe that 
the Goths and Romans belonged to distinct families of 
nations. It is, indeed, the common opinion, that the Goths 
constituted a very early part of the population of Italy, and 
contributed their full share to the formation of the Latin 
language ; but, by Grimm's law, we have seen that the 
Goths are the youngest member of the Medo-European 
family ; and consequently, that Italy may have been fully 
stocked with Sclavonians and Old Prussians before the 
Goths entered Europe. In the Mithridatic war, the Ro-- 
mans under Pompey probably came in contact with these 
people ; but it was the earliest and only meeting of the two 
races till the decline and fall of the Roman empire, when 
the Goths eifectually broke the Roman power and sacked 
the capitol. Gibbon, though discrediting the poetical his- 
tory of Odin's revenge, yet brings these conquerors from 
the Baltic. He says, " In the age of the Antonines, the 

I 2 



116 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

Goths were still seated in Prussia ; about the reign of Alex- 
ander Severus, the Roman province of Dacia had already 
experienced their proximity by frequent and destructive 
inroads : in this interval, therefore, of about seventy years, 
we must place the second migration of the Goths from the 
Baltic to the Euxine" (ch. x.). But the Scandinavian 
Goths at a very early period, and subsequent^ the Mseso- 
Goths after a very long interval, issued independently from 
the shores of the Euxine, as the mother country or hive of 
all the Lower German tribes : the use of the prefix ye, ga^ 
by the Mseso-Goths, sufficiently characterises them as an 
independent and distinct tribe from the Scandinavians, in 
whose dialects it does not occur. 

The Crimea, which lies on the west side of the Bospho- 
rus, and opposite the southern territory of the Medo-Ger- 
man Asburgiani, would afford a ready road for the move- 
ments of this people, and must have been indebted to them 
for a portion of its inhabitants. The first Goths that poured 
into the north-west of Europe may have started either from 
the Crimea, or from the neighbourhood of Asof ; and these 
places, after the unavoidable revolutions in a course of ages, 
still retain marks of their ancient Gothic inhabitants. 

A late notice of Gothic vestiges in the Crimea is afforded 
by Vater, in Adelung's Mithridates : " Archbishop Sestren- 
witsch, who has long resided in the Crimea, and has pub- 
lished a history of the country, informs me that in the 
southern extremity of the Crimea, and in the neighbour- 
hood of Sebastopol— that is, in places shown by history to 
have been inhabited by the Goths— are some small towns 
in which the Tartars speak a provincial dialect similar to 
Low German : I have myself heard it in Mangut : tliey 
have adopted the Mahommedan religion and the lartar 



ON THE GliliMAN LANGUAGES. 117 

mode of life." Earlier notices of a Gothic race in this part 
of the world are afforded by Rubriquius, who visited Tar- 
tary in the thirteenth centnry ; by Josaphat Barbaras, Vene- 
tian ambassador to Asof, in the fifteenth century ; and by 
Busbequius, King Ferdinand's ambassador to Constanti- 
nople, in the sixteenth century : these severally agree in 
their testimony, that vestiges of the Gothic language are 
found in the Crimea and neighbourhood. Busbequius in 
particular gives a list of words in the native language, 
which strongly resemble the Dutch, English, and other 
Low German dialects (Dorn, p. 65). 

Scandinavian. — But it is in Scandinavia, the country of 
Odin himself, that we meet with the plainest traces of the 
Goths. From its remote and detached situation, it has 
retained many of the ancient names. East and West Goth- 
land, Isle of Gothland, Gottenburg; and has best pre- 
served the original character of the pure olden tongue. 
The Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, can only be considered 
as modern kindred dialects of the ancient Gothic of Odin, 
respectively modified a little by the fluctuations to which 
living languages are always exposed. The closer affinity 
of the Scandinavian than of the High German dialects, to 
Latin, is thus accounted for by Jakel, p. 158. In the case 
of single words, as also of grammatical inflexions, we have 
already seen what a great resemblance exists between Latin 
and Gothic ; from which it follows that one, at least, of the 
early Italian tribes must have been of Gothic origin. Hence 
we may explain the circumstance of many Latin roots occur- 
ring in the Scandinavian dialects, which are not found in 
High German : the following arc examples : — 



18 



ON THE GEKMAN LANGUAGES. 



Scandin. 


Latin. 


High Germ, 


sool 


sol 


Sonne 


vaar 


ver 


fruhling 


rati k a 


radix 


wurzel 


oek 


equus 


pferd 


loper 


lepus 


base 


soemn 


somnus 


schlaf 


sen 


senex 


alt 


lage 


leges 


gesetze 



In another passage the same author says : In German 
etymology we must consider only the root, and not the 
prefix or affix. Thus our prefix ye is lost in many German 
dialects, and in the Scandinavian and English languages : 
in Swedish and Danish ge-sund is sund (sound) ; ge-walt, 
vaelda (valid). The prefix is sometimes so amalgamated 
with the root as hardly to be detected : glied (member) for 
ge-lied ; Swed. lit: gnade, Dan. naade : gluck, Frisian lock. 
Low Saxon and English, luck (p. 34). In the warrior's 
vow in Old Low Saxon, fanka occurs for ge-fangene. As 
these exceptions all belong to the Lower or Medo-German 
division, I infer that a general use of the prefix is charac- 
teristic of Upper or Perso-German. It occurs, however, in 
Anglo-Saxon and Gothic ; which circumstance seems to 
show that the Angles were a German family quite distinct 
from the Low Saxons, and the Mseso-Goths from the Scan- 
dinavians. The Gothic version of Ulphilas may be the 
oldest existing memorial of the Medo-German language ; 
but we know from history that the Goths of Otiin in 
Saxony, Denmark, and Sweden, must have been anterior 
to the Goths of Ulphilas in the fourth century, a.d. 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 119 

Low German, — This class consists of the Anglo-Saxon, 
Frisian, Dutch, Flemish, &c. Of the Low German dialects 
now spoken, the Dutch can fairly lay claim to the chief 
place, as it has become a cultivated language, and possesses 
an extensive literature (Arndt, p. 105); but the Anglo- 
Saxon, under a modified form, has been developed into the 
present English, which need not fear a comparison with any 
existing language, either for the extent of territory in which 
it prevails, or for the importance of the literature which it 
contains. When first introduced into Britain by the Angles, 
Jutes, and Saxons, it was a genuine Old Low German dia- 
lect ; and the subsequent additions by the Danes and Nor- 
mans were all drawn from the same Medo-German source ; 
so that, notwithstanding the numerous foreign words that 
have since been adopted, it still retains its Low German 
character, as may have been observed from the numerous 
examples in the course of the present chapter : water for 
wasser ; sweat, schweiss ; to pipe, pfeifen ; to sleep, schlafen ; 
birth, ge-burt, &c. The Danes and Low Saxons with the 
English use no prefix ge<, which the Anglo-Saxons did: 
Dan. helligt ; Engl, hallowed ; A.-Sax. ge-halgud : it would 
appear, therefore, that the Saxon element prevailed over 
the Anglian in the formation of our present language ; and 
the Celtic name for English, both in Wales and Scotland, 
is Sassenach. 

In England, the original Welsh inhabitants were either 
gradually extirpated or driven to the mountainous recesses 
of the west, so that the German character prevailed over 
the Celtic : in France, on the contrary, the Low German 
conquerors, the Normans, Burgundians, &c. incorporated 
themselves with the ancient Galli or Welsh ; and these last 
stamped the impress of their old Celtic language on the 



120 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

French. In this way we must account for the different 
nature of the present languages in France and England, in 
which countries one common dialect, the Welsh or Perso- 
Celtic, had originally prevailed. 

Upper German. — As Sanskrit and Zend are but recent 
discoveries when compared with our early Knowledge of 
Persian, this latter would of course be the first to afford us 
the means of instituting a comparison between the idioms 
of the east and west. The similarity between Persian and 
German was noticed (as I have before remarked) in the 
sixteenth century ; and a more careful study soon brought 
to light the interesting fact, that not only numerous words 
were alike in these widely distant languages, but that there 
was a family resemblance in their structure and general 
character. This circumstance could not fail to bring to 
mind the statement of Herodotus (i. 125), that one of the 
most considerable Persian tribes was called TiQ^avioi 
(Germanii) ; and to suggest the idea, that, as Europe must 
have been peopled from Asia, the remote forefathers of tlie 
great German family might have come from that particular 
quarter of the East. 

Although most of the philological remarks which have 
been made on these two particular idioms, refer to the 
general affinity of the whole Indo-European class, yet 
some of the observations apply to the German race in a 
limited sense, and more especially to the Upper German 
division of it. Adelung states that the occurrence of so much 
German in Persian has excited much wonder and even 
astonishment : the fact is undeniable, and the common por- 
tion consists not only of a considerable number of radical 
words, but also of formative syllables and grammatical 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 121 

inflexions {Mithridates, vol. i. p. 277). As instances of the 
use of prefixes in Persian, we find a-bru, o-^pvq ; a-riigh, 
ructus ; a-michten, to mix ; and the Persian forms girif-ten, 
saz-den, approach much nearer to the Old High German 
greifan, sezan, than to the older words, Skr. grab' (in the 
Vedas), Goth, gripan ; Skr. sad, Goth, sitan. The aflBnity 
existing between the idioms in question, and the express 
mention of Persian Germans by Herodotus, are facts which 
favour the opinion that the primitive High Germans of 
Europe and the Germans of Asia were descended from a 
common stock ; and which induce us to believe that the 
difference between Zend and the original Persian was as 
great as that which we observe between the Lower and 
Upper dialects of German. On the side of German, we 
possess much ampler means of judging of the ancient state 
of the language, than in the case of Persian. From the 
time that Cyrus the Great succeeded to the combined 
empire of the Medes and Persians, the Persian or southern 
language must have begun to be corrupted by the introduc- 
tion of Zend or Medo-European forms ; and we possess no 
compositions in it until long after the period of its farther 
corruption by the Arabian conquerors. 

German writers, in tracing the history and genealogy of 
their native language, have found that it possesses more 
intimate relations with Greek than with any other idiom of 
Europe. Salmasius had very early pointed out the curious 
fact, that many German words were common to Greek and 
Persian ; and Arndt asserts that the structure and character 
of the German language is quite Grecian, whilst the Rus- 
sian very closely resembles the Latin. This is the more 
singular, as German has always been cultivated after 
Roman models, and the people been trained under the 



122 ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 

Roman law and the Latin ritual ; on the contrary, the 
Russians were attached to the Greek church, and never 
adopted the Latin language either for civil or ecclesiastical 
purposes; yet, notwithstanding these opposing circum- 
stances, the two languages still retain respectively the 
distinctive character of their origin. This distinction is 
most broadly marked in the use or rejection of the article. 
In Russian and Latin it is never placed before nouns ; in 
Gothic, also, it is very sparingly used ; but it is indispens- 
able to Greek and German, and is constantly recurring: 
also the Perso-Grecian and Perso-German dialects equally 
stand aloof from the Medo-European languages in the use 
of their medials. 

Modern or New High German is indebted entirely to 
the Reformation for its present extensive circulation : it is 
the idiom of no particular district, but forms the language 
of literature and good society throughout Germany. It is 
generally considered, as the name implies, the most recent 
of three stages in the Perso-German language, — Old, 
Middle, and New High German. But this view will 
hardly account for the Medo-German forms that occur in 
it : braue for Old High German prawa ; nebel for nepal, 
&c. The opinion of Arndt, therefore, seems more probable, 
that it arose from the ingrafting of an Upper German dia- 
lect upon a Lower German stock, and in the course of its 
development designedly received a greater degree of soft- 
ness and polish from this source; and this view would 
account for the anomalies I have mentioned. The dialect, 
however, of Upper Saxony, from which it was principally 
derived, is said to hold a kind of intermediate place between 
the two great classes of the German idioms : in the form of 
the words it resembles the Upper German, and the Lower 



ON THE GERMAN LANGUAGES. 123 

in the softness of its pronunciation. The writings of the 
Saxon Luther, and his translation of the Bible, made this 
High German dialect the ecclesiastical language of his 
country, and it became every where current for all higher 
purposes. Luther has the credit of creating a common 
language for all his countrymen, and of giving rise to the 
present literature of Europe. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

The Celtic races, when first noticed in history, occupied 
the western extremities of Europe; they are, therefore, 
supposed to have been among the earliest tribes who 
migrated from Asia. Like some of the families which we 
have already considered, the Celtic dialects form two clearly 
distinct classes: the Medo-Celtic, containing the Erse, 
Gaelic, and Manx ; and the Perso-Celtic, comprising the 
Welsh, Cornish, and Bas Breton in France. Besides 
these, the Basque of the Pyrenees is referred to the same 
family : it contains many words in common with the other 
Celtic dialects, as also with the Albanian or Skype in 
Epirus ; and, from the number of Basque words which 
occur in Spanish and Portuguese, it is supposed to have 
been the same as the Old Iberian, which was the prevail- 
ing language of these countries before the arrival of the 
Romans (Arndt, p. 19). 

Besides the general affinity which the Celtic dialects 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGKS. l^S 

possess with the cultivated languages of Europe, they 
exhibit a curious connexion with some north-eastern idioms 
which have fallen into the same low state as themselves. 
Arndt has shown that the Basque, Erse, and Welsh, have 
not only a mutual relation to one another, but also to the 
idioms of the Finns, Samoiedes, and Mongols (p. 45). 
Even in the time of Tacitus, this similarity had been 
observed; for he remarks, that though the Finnish ^stii 
had adopted the German mode of life, yet their language 
more nearly resembled the Celtic ( Britannica) ; Germ, 
c. 45. 

The Finns are placed by Ptolemy and Tacitus in the 
east of Germany and on the banks of the Vistula, in com- 
pany with the Guttones and Venedi ; but before the irrup- 
tion of these Medo-European tribes, they must have 
extended much farther to the west ; and Celts and Finns 
may have lived in the heart of Europe as neighbouring 
nations which had sprung from a common source. The 
Finnish language has many words in common with Sa- 
moiede, Ostak, Mongol, &c. in the north-east, and with 
the Leso^ian and other less known dialects on the north side 
of Caucasus. All the various scattered tribes which show 
any affinity with proper Finnish, are comprehended by the 
Russians under the general name of Tchudes; and this 
term is now generally adopted to express the whole race — 
of which the proper Finns form only a part. The Russian 
annals relate, that when Rurik, at the common desire of 
the Sclavonians and Tchudes, assumed the government at 
Ilmen See, a great portion of modern European Russia 
was still occupied by Tchudes ; and they appear formerly 
to have reached continuously from Siberia to Caucasus. 
I have already mentioned the opinion of Rask, that nations 



126 ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

of this race once occupied all the regions between tlie 
Arctic Sea and Indian Ocean (Part I. ch. 2). To the 
Tchudic family of languages belong the proper Finnish 
and Esthian dialects, which are the best defined of the 
whole; also those of the Laplanders, the Ingrians, and 
Carelians, the Siranians and Permians, the Wotes or 
Wotakes, the Morduanes and Mokshane^ the Tchere- 
misses, Tchuwasches, and Woguls. The language of the 
Hungarians or Magyars has also been considered on good 
grounds to belong to the Tchudic family ; for its vocabu- 
lary contains numerous words, which are found in many or 
some one of the dialects just mentioned. 

Rask has thus described the Scythian or Tchudic race, 
as contrasted with the Sarmatian or Indo-European : — The 
Scythian race is much more difficult to classify than the 
Sarmatian, not merely because it is less known, but also 
because from the first it extended much more widely than 
any other, both from their own nomadic habits, and from 
the invasion of more powerful tribes. The long separation 
of individual branches has afforded them time to acquire 
peculiar and distinct characters, so that at the present day 
it is difficult to detect the least trace of their original 
identity. Arndt has rendered it probable, that the Basque 
in Spain belongs to the same family as the Finnish and 
Samoiede ; and has shown that the Celtic dialects in Great 
Britain and France contain many portions of a similar 
origin. Klaproth (Archiv fur Asiatische Literatur) has 
shown that the Caucasian languages, with the exception of 
the Ossete and Dugorian (which belong to the Indo-Euro- 
pean family) have a close affinity with Samoiede and other 
dialects in the North of Asia; and I believe that the 
Georgian may be assigned to the same Caucasian class. 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 127 

Li my Essay on the origin of the Old Norse language, I 
have endeavoured to show (p. 112 — 146), that in the 
oldest times a Finnish population had spread itself over 
Denmark and the whole North, and that the Greenlanders 
were a part of it. From all these considerations, it follows 
that the Scythian race extended in an unbroken line from 
Greenland over all the northern regions of America, Asia, 
and Europe, to Finland, and in still older times as far as 
the Eider or Elbe, and even to Britain, Gaul, and Spain ; 
in the way that they are known to have occupied the coun- 
tries from the White Sea to beyond Mount Caucasus. 
This race appears therefore to have supplied Europe with 
the far greater portion of its oldest inhabitants. It was 
afterwards disturbed and scattered by the irruption of new 
tribes : ( 1 ) by the Celts, who mingled with them in Gaul 
and Britain ; (2) next by the Goths, who, before the age 
of Odin as well as long after it, became connected with 
them in Scandinavia; (3) and lastly, by the Sclavonians, 
who, at the present day, hold the greatest part of them in 
subjection. The Scythian people have in this way occu- 
pied the whole of Northern and Middle Asia, which appears 
to have been their proper home; but here the mountain 
ranges of Central Asia have served as a safe bulwark, and 
averted from their immense multitudes the fate which over- 
took their detached tribes in the open regions of Europe. 
In the Western part of the world, they are nearly all under 
Russian dominion ; so that the whole of this vast race has 
formed only two independent states; the Mantchus in 
China, and the l^urks \ 

From this passage it would appear, that Rask also had 
followed the common opinion of the comparatively recent 

* Rask uber die Zendsprache, p. G9. Hagen's edit. 



128 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 



entrance of the Sclavonians into Europe. — " Antiquarians 
of later years have generally adopted the opinion, that 
Europe has been peopled by three great streams from the 
East ; the Celts, the Goths, and the Sarmatians ; who fol- 
lowed each other in the order in which they are here men- 
tioned. The Sclavonian nations being the last which 
entered Europe, are evidently excluded from having fur- 
nished the first settlers in Italy or Greece ^" Arndt insists 
much on an early European date for the Sclavonians ; with 
respect to the primitive inhabitants of Europe, he intro- 
duces them in the following order : ( 1 ) Celts, that is, Medo- 
Celts; (2) Tchudes; (3) Galli, or Perso- Celts, who pressed 
through both the former, and took possession of Gaul. 

The proper Celtic dialects, as it has been already stated, 
admit of arrangement under two distinct heads ; and the 
difference between the two classes is marked, as in other 
families, by a preference of certain letters. The inter- 
change of s with h, and that of k with p, are the most strik- 
ing cases. The following words, collected from Prichard, 
are cognate in the Welsh and Erse languages: in the 
Medo-Celtic, like the Latin, the initial letter is s; but in 
Perso-Celtic, as in Greek, it is an h. 



iledo-Celtic 




Perso-Celtic 




or Erse. 


Latin. 


or Welsh. 


Greek. 


salan 


sal 


halen 


aXg 


suan 


somnus 


hyn 


VTTVOg 


se 


sex 


chwech 


i5 


saul 


sol 


heol 


i7Xtoc 


savail 


similis 


havail 


ofxaXoQ 


sean 


senex 


hen 


ivog 


saileog 


salix 


helig 


tXlKt} 




sus 


hwch 


vt: 



2 Brit. Crit. and Quart. Theol. Review, vol. i. p. 31. 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 



129 



It is very remarkable that tliere are scarcely any words 
in Irish which begin with p ; insomuch that in an ancient 
alphabetic vocabulary, that letter is omitted : and it is no 
less observable that a considerable number of these words, 
whose initial in the British language is a p, begin in Irish 
with a k, or, as they constantly write it, with a c. This is 
shown by the annexed examples, quoted from Edward 
Lhuyd by Prichard, p. 46. 



Welsh. 




Irish. 


pesuch 


cough 


kasachd 


pen^ 


head 


keann 


puy 


who 


kia 


plant 


children 


klann 


plyv 


feathers 


kluyv 


peduar 


four 


kathair 


pymp 


five 


kuig 


pridh 


clay 


kriadh 



The following words will serve to show that the same 
law takes place in Greek and Latin : — 



Medo-Celtic. 


Latin. 


Perso-Celtic. 


Greek. 


kia, kidh 


qui, quid 


pwy, pa 


Trig, TTi 


kathair 


quatuor 


pedwar 


TTKJVQtq 


kuig 


quinque 


pymp 


TTSjUTTE 


each 


equus 


eap 


LTTTTOQ 


krann 


(ilex) 


pren 


TTQLVOg 



I have ventured on giving the word eap, as analogous to 
each, from the following statement of Pliny, H. N. iii. 21. 
" Eporedicas Galli bonos equorum domitores vocant." Now 

3 Compare below, Pennine Alps, Apennines, note 7» 
K 



130 ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

as rheda is the Gallic name of carriage according to Quinc- 
tilian, epo or eap must have signified horse among the 
Gauls or Old Welsh. Petor for quatuor is said to have 
been both Gallic and Oscan ; it is probable, therefore, that 
epus was Oscan also ; from it is derived the name of the 
goddess Epona, which is of the same form ^ Bubona. 

As there is a distinct affinity between Erse and Latin, 
the Erse must, to a certain degree, be akin to Russian 
also ; the mutual relationship of all three is exhibited in 
the following list of words : — 



Erse. 


Latin. 


Russ. 


saul 


sol 


solnze 


luan 


luna 


luna 


dia 


dies 


den 


nochd 


nox 


noc' 


suan 


somnus 


son 


neav 


nubes 


nebo 


muir 


mare 


more 


ko 


quis 


koi 



Thus the Erse, from its affinity to Latin and Russian, 
clearly belongs to the Medo-European division : the Latin 
words that occur in Welsh, credu credo, canu cano, caru, 
to love, earns, &c., are owing to the general affinity of the 
Indo-European languages; otherwise the thought might 
arise, that the Welsh had adopted them during the Roman 
dominion in Britain ; but we could not account in this way 
for the still greater similarity between Latin and Erse, as 
the Romans had no intercourse with the Irish. Besides, 
many of the Welsh terms are, as Llewelyn remarks, of 
such a nature that they could not be borrowed. " Corph 
and corpus, braich and brachium, dant and dens,— the 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 131 

corresponding words in Welsh and Latin for body, arm, 
tooth, — are evidently similar terms, and must have proceeded 
from the same spring; but they cannot be supposed to 
have been borrowed by one tongue from the other, any 
more than the things they signify can be thought to have 
been borrowed by one people from the other." (Remarks 
on the British Tongue, p. 28.) 

The affinity of Erse, Latin, and Russian, necessarily 
pre-supposes that Erse is related to Sanskrit and the other 
Eastern languages ; the following list of words will show 
the nature of that affinity : — 

Near (man), Skr. narah; Z. nairya: Sabine, nero. 
Gean (woman), Skr. g'ani; Z. gena; O. Pr. genua. 

Femen ( ), Lat. femina ; Skr. vamani. 

Cridhe (heart), Skr. hrid; Kapdia, cordis. 

Anail (breath), Skr. an (to breathe, to blow); anila 

(wind). 
Geo (ox), Skr. go; Z. gaus; Lett. gows. 
Mios (moon), Skr. mas; Z. mao. 
Garam (warm), Skr. g'arma; Z. gareraa. 
Deas (right-hand), Skr. daks'ina; Z. das'ina. 

In Sanskrit and Erse, this last word signifies south as well 
as right-hand, because the Indians and Celts considered 
the point of sunrise as the front. In this agreement (says 
Pott) there is nothing very surprising ; but it must excite 
astonishment to find the south expressed among both 
nations by terms signifying right-hand, and which are 
etymologically related. The Deccan, in Greek Aaxvog, 
means the south country, and is corrupted from the ancient 
Sanskrit, daks'ina. In Gaelic, iar signifies behind and 
westward : it is probably connected with the old names for 

k2 



132 ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

Ireland (the western country), Eire, lepvri, Erionnaeh (an 
Irishman), Hibernia. This corruption of the name in 
Latin, Hibernia, wintry-land, gave rise to the notion, 
(Strabo, i. p. 169,) that the country was hardly habitable 
on account of the cold. (Pott, vol. ii. p. 186.) 

Erse bearla, language; ad bhraim, I s^y; Skr. bru, 
bruve, I say; abravit, he said. According to Vallancey, 
the oldest language known in Ireland was called Bearla 
Fene or the Phenician dialect; and was a Punic- Celtic 
compound, which varies considerably from the modern 
Erse*. Bearla, language, is derived from the same Erse 
root as breithir, word; abra, speech; ad bhraim, I say; 
adubhairt me, I did say ; and is cognate with the Sanskrit 
root bru, to say ; infin. bravitum ; bruve, I say ; abrot and 
abravit, he said. I therefore feel inclined to look to the 
same quarter for the explanation of the other word Fene, 
which I consider to be in no way connected with Punic or 
Phenician. Meidinger mentions an old Eastern language 
named Fan, as very nearly related to Sanskrit and Zend, 
and which is ascribed to the Buddhists in China '. I am 
not in the least acquainted with this Fan language, but it 
has quite as good a claim to consideration in this point of 
view, as the Phenician or Punic. 

The affinity of the Medo-Celtic dialects with Russian 
and Latin sufficiently proves their claim to that title, and 
renders it probable enough that they entered Europe by 
the north of the Black Sea; but Arndt supposes that the 
other class also, the Perso- Celtic, came at a subsequent 
period from the same quarter, because it contains more 
words than the Erse in common with the Mongol ; and he 

* Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language, init. 
' Meidinger's Deutschen Volkstamme, p. 89. 116. 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 133 

connects this name with the ancient Welsh denomination 
of Gauls, Gaulois, Galli. The tribe of the Semgalli, in 
Courland, to which he alludes, seems to support his opi- 
nion ; but this name, as the neighbouring tribe of the 
Lettgalli would lead us to suppose, is of Lettish origin. 
Semgalli is equivalent to netherlanders, lowlanders ; and 
is derived from the Lettish semsh, low, (Lith. sam, 
under;) and the Lettish gals, boundary, district; so that 
Semgalleeshi signifies one who lives in the lowlands : kas 
Semmeja galla dsivo. (Pott, vol. ii. p. 535.) In addition 
to this, because there exists just as striking an affinity 
between Welsh and Greek, as there is found between 
Erse and Latin, I will venture the remark that these Welsh 
dialects may possibly belong to the Perso- European class ; 
and that the existence of Galati or Gallo-Grseci in Asia 
Minor may point out the way by which they entered 
Europe south of the Black Sea. Although some Welsh 
tribes may have wandered back from Europe and settled 
in Galatia, yet it is probable that Galatia may have been a 
resting place in their original passage to Europe from 
Asia; just as the Goths, who hastened the fall of the 
Roman empire, are said to have come from Sweden to the 
Black Sea before their descent upon Italy ; although it is 
certain that, if the account be true, the movement was a 
retrograde one, as the earliest known seat of the Goths was 
on the Black Sea, from which they originally issued to 
Scandinavia. 

As Celtic tribes constituted the first inhabitants of most 
countries in Europe, we might expect to find some traces 
of them in Italy ; but as their settlements there are wholly 
beyond the reach of history, I shall confine myself entirely 
to philological arguments. The Erse, however, has so 



134 ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

much in common with Sclavonian, as has been already 
pointed out, that arguments drawn from this source would 
not be decisive, if we could not have shown that there are 
words and inflexions common to Latin and Erse, which are 
not found in Sclavonian. Thus in the numeral ^?;e, the 
initial qu or k is found only in the Lat^ quinque, and 
Erse, kuig ; see the Vocabulary ; although it is worthy of 
remark, that the Lith. penki, and the Lett, and Old Pr. 
pienki, by using k in the second syllable, show a nearer 
affinity than the rest to the Latin quinque or kinke : the 
Scl. c'etyri, four, varies from the Latin quatuor, and Erse 
kathair : equus, a horse, corresponds alone with the Erse, 
each, and Scand. eikur, oek. The Latin dative plural in 
bus has no analogues but in Skr. b'yas; Z. byo; Erse, 
aibh ; Skr. vak ; Z. vacs ; Lat. vox : dat. pi., Skr. vagVyas; 
Z. vac'ebyo; Lat. vocibus. "In the Erse dialect," says 
Mr. Prichard, "nouns have a very peculiar mode of 
declension ; the following may serve as an example : — 





Singular. 




Plural. 


Norn. 


an bard 


Nom. 


na baird 


Gen. 


an bhaird 


Gen. 


na mbhard 


Dat. 


o'n mbard 


Dat. 


na bardaibh 


Ace. 


an bard 


Ace. 


na barda 


Voc. 


a bhaird 


1 Voc. 


a bharda 



It is worth while to notice particularly the dative plural, 
which generally terminates in aibh, though this perhaps 
admits of a variety, for it is given by Lluyd in uibh. The 
terminations in uibh or aibh are plainly related to the old 
Latin dative in obus and abus, which was probably the 
genuine and original form of this case in Latin. The 
Sanskrit datives plural end in ab'yus or ab'yah, or at least 

12 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 135 

ill b'yus after a vowel, as Skr. rajab'yus; Lat. regibus; 
Erse, righaibh or riogliaibh." (Celt. Nat. p. 186.) The 
Lithuanian has mus in the dative plural, or more commonly 
the contracted form, ms ; wilkas, a wolf; dat. pi. wilkamus 
or wilkams. In Old Prussian it is ns or mans ; vyrs, a 
man, dat. pi. vyrins or vyrimans. In Lettish, it is im ; in 
Sclavonian, m. 

The termination r ^, as characteristic of the passive voice, 
is found only in Latin and Celtic. It occurs in both 
branches: Welsh, carav, I love; passive forms, carer, cerir: 
Erse, cesaim, I torment; passive, cestar, cesfaidher. (Pri- 
chard, p. 180.) In Celtic, the third person plural ends 
variously in ant, ent, ont, ynt, and corresponds with the 
Latin terminations, ant, ent, int, unt; which last was ori- 
ginally ont, and agrees with the ^olic Xeyovn for X^yovai. 
The Oscan forms, petor, pis, coincide with the Welsh 
pedwar, pwy, but cannot with any certainty be ascribed to 
them : a more convincing proof of their presence may be 
adduced in the Welsh appellation pen, a head or summit, 
which is found in the Latin names of mountain ranges, 
Apennines, Pennine Alps ^ These reasons appear suffi- 
cient to induce us to believe that Erse and Welsh tribes 
had found an early entrance into Italy, although we cannot 
trace their course thither from our histories. 

The facts and statements produced in this chapter will 
very aptly introduce the following remarks of a writer in 
the Quarterly Review : — " The Greek and Latin have for 
some time been considered by all competent scholars as 
two separate dialects, formed, each in its own peninsula, 

^ For the illustration of this r, as the sign of deponents, and of the passive 
voice in Latin, see Bopp, p. 686, and Pott, i. p. 133. ii, p. 92. 
' In Erse kean signifies head : see above, note 3. 



136 ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 

by a conquering race of Gothic [?] origin, planting itself 
each among a conquered primeval population, and each 
adopting, of necessity, part of the language originally 
spoken by that population into the substance of its own. 
It is thus that the Celtic element, largely visible both in 
the Greek and the Latin, is accounted for ; and one of the 
most curious branches of the whole of this inquiry is, that 
which tends to confirm the radically separate formation of 
the two languages of classical antiquity, by showing that, 
though each has much of Celtic, the Celtic element of the 
one is not the Celtic element of the other. They have 
both borrowed, we are told, from the same vocabulary, but, 
generally speaking, they have not taken the same words. 
It is much to be wished, that this very curious point should 
be made the subject of a separate and minute investigation" 
(vol. xlvi. p. 339). From what has been said, it will be 
clearly seen, that the Medo-Celtic or Erse constituted the 
Celtic element of Latin, whilst Greek is cognate with a 
very different branch of the Celtic family ; viz., the Welsh 
or Perso-Celtic. It has been already pointed out that 
Latin is of greater European date than classical or Perso- 
Greek ; but it would appear, that even the Celtic portion 
of these languages held the same relative age ; for though 
Arndt brings the ancient Gauls or Welsh from the north- 
east, yet he represents them as breaking in upon the Erse 
tribes, who had been previously settled in Europe. 

Mr. Prichard concludes his interesting treatise on the 
Eastern origin of the Celtic nations with this 

GENERAL INFERENCE. 

I have thus laid before my readers the most obvious and 
striking analogies between the Celtic dialects, and the 



ON THE CELTIC LANGUAGES. 137 

languages which are more generally allowed to be of cog- 
nate origin with the Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin. On the 
facts submitted to them, they will form their own conclusion. 
Probably few persons will hesitate in adopting the opinion, 
that the marks of connexion are too decided and extensive 
to be referred to accident or casual intercourse ; that they 
are too deeply interwoven with the intimate structure of 
the languages compared, to be explained on any other 
principle than that which has been admitted by so many 
writers in respect to the other great families of languages 
belonging to the ancient population of Europe; and 
that the Celtic people themselves are therefore of Eastern 
origin, a kindred tribe with the nations who settled on the 
banks of the Indies, and on the shores of the Mediterranean 
and of the Baltic. It is probable that several tribes emi- 
grated from their original seat in different stages of ad- 
vancement in respect to civilization and language, and we 
accordingly find their idioms in very different degrees of 
refinement; but an accurate examination and analysis of 
the intimate structure and component materials of these 
languages is still capable of affording ample proofs of a 
common origin. 



PART III. 

ON THE 

PRIMEVAL HISTORY 

OF 

EUROPE, ITALY, AND ROME. 



As there is nothing the Asiatics find it harder to conceive than the idea 
of a republican constitution ; as the Hindoos are utterly unable to look upon 
the India Company as an association of proprietors, or in any other light 
than as a princess ; so it fares with even the acutest of the moderns in the 
history of antiquity, unless by critical and philological studies they have 
stripped themselves of their habitual associations. — Niebuhr. 



CHAPTER I. 



ON THE RELATION OF EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 

" The sons of Ham ; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan." 

Genesis x. 

In the historical portion of this work I begin with Greece ; 
not because the Greeks of the classical period are descended 
from the most ancient settlers in Europe, but because their 
traditions and records reach further back than those of any 
other European nation. In their earliest traditions and 
records we hear of numerous colonies from Egypt, Phe- 
nicia, &c. ; therefore in the oldest genealogical antiquities of 
the West, we have necessarily to do with Hamite tribes; 
and in tracing back the origin of these, we are unavoidably 
carried into the remoter countries of the East. I can here 
give only a few of the strongest cases, and shall dwell more 
particularly on those points which can be connected with 
the sure word of scripture history. 

" Assyria was a powerful empire, Egypt a most populous 
country governed by a very refined polity, and Sidon an 
opulent city, abounding with manufactures and carrying 
on extensive commerce, when the Greeks, ignorant of the 



142 ON THE RELATION OF 

most obvious and necessary arts, are said to have fed upon 
acorns. Yet was Greece the first country of Europe that 
emerged from the savage state ; and this advantage it seems 
to have owed entirely to its readier means of communica- 
tion with the civilized nations of the East. Some of the 
best supported of ancient Grecian traditions relate the 
establishment of Egyptian colonies in Greece ; traditions 
so little accommodated to national prejudice, yet so very 
generally received, and so perfectly consonant to all known 
history, that for their more essential circumstances they 
seem unquestionable. With all the intricacy of fable, how- 
ever, in which early Grecian history is involved, the origin 
of the Greek nation, from a mixture of the Pelasgian, and 
possibly some other barbarous hordes, with colonies from 
Phenicia and Egypt, seems not doubtful '." 

I have made these extracts from Mitford, to show that a 
considerable portion of the early inhabitants of Greece con- 
sisted of a highly civilized people, speaking acknowledged 
Hamite dialects, which could have no affinity with Greek ; 
yet these Egyptians and Phenicians, as well as the Pelas- 
gians and allied tribes, are called Barbarians. Herodotus 
(ii. 50.) says, that the names of the Greek gods were 
derived from Barbarians, and principally from the Egypt- 
ians. Strabo states as the result of his inquiries, that the 
whole of Greece was originally occupied by barbarians 
from Egypt, Phenicia, Phrygia, &c. He says, " Heca- 
taeus of Miletus writes, that before the Hellens, Pelopon- 
nesus was inhabited by barbarians ; and, from the accounts 
that have been preserved, it would appear that nearly the 
whole of collective Greece {avfi-jrafra 'EXXac) was formerly 

* Mitford's Greece, ch. i. 



EARLY H AMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 143 

the abode of barbarians. For Pelops led a colony from 
Phrygia into Peloponnesus, and Danaus another from 
Egypt. The Dry opes, Caucones, Pelasgi, Leleges, and 
other kindred tribes, dwelt both within and without the 
Isthmus. The Thracians who accompanied Eumolpus held 
Attica, as Tereus did Daulis in Phocis. The Phenicians ^ 
under Cadmus occupied Cadmeia, whilst Beotia itself was 
the seat of the Aones, Tembices, and Hyantes. Their 
barbarian origin appears also from some of their names; 
Cecrops, Codrus, Cothus, Drymas, Crinanus" (Strabo, 
lib. vii). Now it is well known that the Pelasgians 
were a civilized people, and highly skilled in various useful 
arts ; indeed they carried on their navigation, architecture, 
draining and fertilizing of land on quite a gigantic scale ; 
they therefore could not, any more than the Phenicians 
and Egyptians, be called Barbarians with respect to civiliza- 
tion : that term, therefore, must be confined to their lan- 
guage, and means nothing more than that they spoke an 
idiom which had no affinity with classical Greekv Herodo- 
tus (i. 57) expressly states that the Pelasgians spoke a 
barbarous tongue ; and Strabo, in discussing the question, 
why Homer called the Carians j3apj3apo0wyat and not j3ap- 
j3apot, asserts that the term Barbari, in its original sense, 
was limited to language (lib. xiv). It follows, therefore, 
that the idioms of the Pelasgians, Phenicians, and Egypt- 
ians were placed upon an equal footing by the Greeks; at 
least in the circumstance that none of them had any affinity 
with genuine Greek. " We find strong reason," says Mit- 
ford, " to suppose that in the early ages the difi*erence of 
language over Asia, Africa, and Europe, as far as their 
inhabitants of those ages are known to us, was but a difi'er- 
ence of dialect; and that the people of Greece, Phenicia, 



144 ON THE RELATION OF 

and Egypt, mutually understood each other" (vol. i. 
p. 138). This statement in itself I consider to be essen- 
tially true ; but it involves a contradiction in terms, if we 
understand it in any other sense than that the Pelasgians 
were of the same Hamite class as the Phenicians and 
Egyptians : a real Greek could have held i^o communica- 
tion with a Mitzrite or Canaanite. 

Strabo constantly describes the Pelasgians as an unset- 
tled race, and prone to distant migrations {TroXvirXavov 
iBvo^). In his twelfth book he states that the Pelasgi, Cau- 
cones, and Leleges had wandered over the greatest part of 
Europe before the Trojan war, and in times of the greatest 
antiquity. Tradition places them always in the same 
countries as the Tyrrhenians and Tyrians : Saguntum and 
Tarraco, in Spain, are Pelasgian or Tyrrhenian colonies ; 
and the Tyrians had colonies in Spain, as far as and beyond 
the pillars of Hercules. The circumstance of the Pelas- 
gians, Tyrrhenians, and Tyrians establishing themselves in 
very distant countries, I conceive is pointed out in sacred 
history. It is very remarkable, that in the account of the 
different families and nations which sprang from the three 
sons of Noah, there is a peculiar and distinctive character- 
istic attached to the descendants of Canaan. After men- 
tioning the various tribes that stocked the land of Canaan, 
the sacred historian adds, " and afterwards were the families 
of the Canaanites spread abroad" (Gen. x. 18). The wide- 
spread settlements of the Pelasgians, like the Jebus or 
Jerusalem of the proper Canaanites, are generally charac- 
terized by a rock fortress which towered above the city, 
and whose natural strength was increased by the ponderous 
masonry of a scientific people. Such fortifications, how- 
ever, are not peculiar to the Pelasgians, but are common 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 145 

to all the tribes of that family. The Mitzrite Cecrops, who 
came from Sais in Egypt, and settled in Attica, fortified the 
rock Cecfopia, which rose nearly perpendicular on all sides, 
and which is better known as the Acropolis of Athens. The 
Canaanite Cadmus, leaving Phenicia, established himself in 

Beotia, where he fortified the rock Cadmeia, which was the 

-»-■■■ 
citadel of Thebes. -/ 

In general, then, the settlements of the Hamites were 
distinguished by strongly fortified citadels ; and it is pro- 
bable that the city and tower of Babel was their first under- 
taking of this kind. The builders of it are particularly 
marked out as the sons of men : " And the Lord came down 
to see the city and tower which the sons of men builded" 
(Gen. xi. 5). In the former world the members of the 
Church, the Sethites, were distinguished by the title " sons 
of God," from the apostatized Cainites, who were denomi- 
nated " sons of men :" the general apostacy before the 
flood was completed by the chosen people intermarrying 
with the apostates, and, consequently, joining in their 
idolatry : " the sons of God saw the daughters of men that 
they were fair ; and they took them wives of all which they 
chose" (Gen. vi. 2). Now this distinction seems to have 
been kept up after the flood, in the case of the builders of 
Babel : the city of Babel, with its fortress or citadel, was 
built by the " sons of men," by which I understand the 
apostate Hamites. The tower of Babel was situate in the 
land of Shinar ; and the Hamite Nimrod had, for one of 
his capitals. Babel in the land of Shinar (Gen. x. 10). 
From the sameness of these names, even if the places 
should not be allowed to be identical, we may with safety 
infer a sameness of origin at least in the builders of both 
cities. The descendants of Ham, the Egyptian and Phe- 



146 ON THE RELATION OF 

nician colonists in Greece and elsewhere, erected in all 
their settlements a strongly fortified citadel ; but Babel was 
the pattern of all the rest : " this they begin to do." It was 
the first ^ structure of the kind after the flood, although the 
art was probably derived from Cain, who was the first to 
build a city, and whose posterity held the sam^ place among 
the antediluvians as the Hamites in our present world. It 
was the descendants of Cain who carried to perfection the 
art of working in metals, the science of music, with other 
implied arts and manufactures ; and it was the Egyptians, 
Phenicians, Tyrrhenians, and Pelasgians, all of Hamite 
origin, who introduced the refinements of civilization into 
the West. 

But farther : Cain's destiny — that he was to be unsettled 
and a wanderer on the face of the earth — like other personal 
prophecies in the early ages of the church, must be extended 
to his posterity ; and it seems implied in the sacred narra- 
tive, that the Hamites, particularly in the line of cursed 
Canaan, were devoted to be unsettled and wanderers on the 
face of the renovated earth like their prototypes, the cursed 
Cainites, in the former world. The Hamites, therefore, 
seem to have taken counsel together, how they might avert 
their impending fate, " and they said. Go to, let us build 
us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven ; 
and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad 
upon the face of the whole earth. So the Lord scattered 



2 " This they begin to do," is the Hebrew method of expressing " this was 
the first doing of the kind:" the strongest example of this idiom which I 
have met with, occurs in 1 Sam. xiv. 35, where the translators were com 
pelled to follow the spirit of the passage, and have thrown the literal trans- 
lation into the margin. «' The same was the first altar tliat he built unto the 
Lord:" marginal reading, " that altar he began to build unto the Lord. ' 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 147 

tliem abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth" (Gen. 
xi. 4 — 9). I have already shown it to have been characteristic 
of the Pelasgian tribes, that they were unsettled and wan- 
derers on the face of the earth ; and tradition related that 
this calamitous lot was inflicted on them by the ofi'ended 
godsj and that an evil fate pursued them (Dionys. i. 17). 
For the confusion of tongues at Babel, see the Appendix. 

Having thus traced upward the history of the Hamite 
race, I proceed to show that the proper Persians belonged 
to the same great family, and were closely related to the 
Pelasgians of Greece. Muller has remarked ^ that Xerxes 
oflfered sacrifices to the heroes of Ilium, and that the learned 
men of Persia, as well as those of Phenicia, possessed many 
traditions concerning lo, Medea, Helena; but the con- 
nexion of the Persians with the Pelasgians was much more 
intimate, arid of very early date. Perseus was the reputed 
founder of the Pelasgian Mycenae near Argos : according 
to the Persian traditions in Herodotus, this Perseus was 
originally an Assyrian, but became a Greek, though none 
of his ancestors had done so before him (vi. 54) : he was 
the first of these Assyrians who mingled with the Pelasgians 
in Greece. On this passage Bryant remarks : " Herodotus 
says that Perseus was originally from Assyria, according to 
the traditions of the Persians. The like is said, and with 
great truth, of the Heraclidse, who are represented by Plato 
as of the same race as the Achsemenidse of Persia. The 
Persians, therefore, and the Grecians were in a great 
measure of the same family" (Bryant, vol. iii. p. 388). It 
was on the ground of their common descent from Perseus 
that Xerxes claimed affinity with the Pelasgian Argives : 

^ Die Etrusker, vol. ii. p. 266. 

l2 



148 ON THE RELATION OF 

" Xerxes, it is said, before he commenced hostilities with 
Greece, sent a herald to Argos, who was instructed thus to 
address the people : ' Men of Argos ! attend to the words of 
Xerxes : we are of opinion that Perses, whom we acknow- 
ledge to be our ancestor, was the son of Perses, whose 
mother was Danae, and of Andromeda, the daughter of 
Cepheus; thus it appears that we derive our origin from 
you. It would, therefore, be unnatural either for us to 
carry on war with those from whom we are descended, or 
for you to make us your adversaries by giving your assist- 
ance to others' " (Herod, vii. 150). It is not improbable 
that this Perses, from whom the Persians derived their 
name (vii. 61), was the Peres or Pers D"id of the Hebrew 
Scriptures : Pers, Lud, and Phut formed the army of Tyre, 
as Pers, Cush, and Phut did that of Gog (Ezek. xxvii. 10. 
xxxviii. 5). From the connexion it would appear that 
these tribes were all of one race ; and it is therefore pro- 
bable that Pers was of Hamite origin, as well as Cush, 
Phut, and Lud. 

Mr. Thirlwall remarks concerning Perseus, that the 
scene of his principal adventures is laid out of Greece, 
in the East. He was sent over the ^gean by his grand- 
father Acrisius, and his achievements follow the same direc- 
tion (as Bellerophon's in Asia Minor), but take a wider 
range : he is carried along the coasts of Syria to Egypt, 
where Herodotus heard of him from the priests, and into 
the unknown lands of the South *. 

The name Pers is mentioned only by the later Hebrew 
prophets ; it seems, then, to have been first brought into 
repute among the Jews by the powerful Cyrus. It is said 

* Thirlwall's Greece, vol. i. p. 125. 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 149 

that Cyrus, in Hebrew Cures, W^)^, was not his original 
name ; it in fact is not a proper name at all, but a title of 
dignity which was conferred afterwards, and which shows 
that he had become the supreme head of the Curete worship 
in Persia ; as Romulus was honoured by the Quirite Romans 
under the title of Quirinus. That the worship of both 
countries was the same, is evident from the identity of the 
legend concerning the early years of Romulus and Cyrus. 
They were both exposed in their infancy, and suckled 
miraculously by brutes ; they both vindicated their high 
birth by personal merit, and were respectively the founders 
of two great Curete empires. The same legend is also told 
of Habis, king of the Curetes at Tartessus in Spain : he 
likewise was exposed in his infancy, was nourished by wild 
animals, and became the head of a Curete kingdom (Justin, 
xliv. 4). In Italy, besides Quirinus and Quirites, occur 
the names Cures and Juno Curetis, which are all of one 
origin and meaning ; but the clearest traces of this Curete 
worship are to be found among the Pelasgian Greeks of 
Crete, Samothrace, &c. From the Curetes of ^tolia and 
Acarnania, Strabo takes occasion to discuss the whole ques- 
tion of the Curete name : it appears from him (lib. x.) that 
the title Curetes is indicative of a particular kind of wor- 
ship, which is co-extensive with the Pelasgian settlements : 
and Homer's " Curetes Achsei," noticed by Strabo, is evi- 
dently a collective name of the Pelasgian tribes, with the 
additional characteristic of their worship ; and it corres- 
ponds exactly with the " Populus Romanus Quirites" of 
Roman history. 

" Cyrus, the destroyer of the Chaldse- Babylonian em- 
pire," says Jahn, " was born b.c. 599, about the seventh 
year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and one hundred 



150 ON THE RELATION OF 

years after the death of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Accord- 
ing to Plutarch, his name Kvpog, in Hebrew ti^niD, signifies 
the sun. In the ancient Pehlvi dialect, the name is korshid, 
that is, splendour of the sun ; from kor, light, the sun, and 
shid, or shed, splendour. The name first occurs in Isaiah 
xliv. 28 ; xlv. J ; with which compare Jereiniah 1. 44. 
Herodotus informs us that this was not his original name, 
but one which was conferred on him at a later period \" 

Also the names Argives and Acheans, are by no means 
foreign to Italy, but are common to it with Greece. The 
Roman historians related that the first people on the Tiber 
were Argives; Cato and C. Sempronius wrote that they 
were Acheans ^ And we learn from Homer (Iliad ii. 599) 
that the Achean name spread far in Peloponnesus ; for he 
calls the Argians, with all the people of the north-eastern 
coast, Acheans; and he distinguishes the whole of the 
peninsula from the rest of Greece by the name of Achean 
A^gos^ The name Achean Argos, again connects the 
Pelasgians and Persians: the Pelasgian Heraclidae are 
said by Plato (in Alcibiad) to have sprung from the same 
stock as the Achsemenidae, the royal family of Persia. 
Achsemenes is quite a Persian name : a brother of Xerxes 
was so called (Herod, vii. 7) ; and it is certainly related to 
that of the Achean Argives : Xerxes himself, who claimed 
affinity with these Argives, was one of the Achsemenidae. 

The leading family of the great Hamite race were the 
Cushites. The chief city of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel, 
in the land of Shinar ; afterwards he extended his power 
eastward into Assyria, and built Nineve : the original lan- 

'" Hebrew Commonwealth, b. vi. sect. 49. 

« Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 45. : Mitford, vol. i. p. 37- 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 151 

guage of all this territory, watered by the Euphrates and 
Tigris, necessarily belonged to the Hamite class. The 
Hamite builders on the plain of Shinar used brick ce- 
mented with bitumen in erecting the city and tower of 
Babel ; and the brick walls of Babylon laid in bitumen are 
mentioned by every ancient writer on the subject. 

In the return of the 10,000 Greeks, Xenophon records 
that at a little distance from Babylon they passed the 
Median wall, which was built of burnt brick and cemented 
with bitumen ( Anab. ii. 4) : it seems to have been intended 
as a rampart against the incursions of the Japhite Medes. 
Mitford describes it as " a prodigious fortified line, in- 
tended, like those of the Romans against the Picts, in our 
own island, or the far more stupendous work of the Chinese 
against the Tartars, to defend a whole country. It was built 
of brick, twenty feet in thickness, and one hundred in height, 
and said to extend seventy miles" (vol. v. p. 211.) Farther 
on, the retreating Greeks took up their quarters for the 
night in a large deserted town on the river Tigris, which 
Xenophon calls Larissa, surrounded by a brick wall, twen- 
ty-five feet thick and a hundred high, raised on a basement 
of stone. The next day's march brought them to another 
deserted town, named Mespila, surrounded by a still more 
extraordinary fortification. The wall fifty feet thick was 
one hundred and fifty feet high : a basement, to the height 
of fifty feet, was of wrought stone containing shells ; the 
rest was completed with brick. With respect to Larissa in 
particular, Mitford remarks : the name of a town in Media, 
written exactly like the name of the principal city in Thessaly, 
a name familiar in Greece, has excited surprise and enquiry. 
Close to Larissa, Xenophon describes a pyramid, very inferior 
in size to those remaining in Egypt, and differing much in 



152 ON THE RELATION OF 

proportions, being about one hundred feet square at the 
base, and two hundred high. The comparatively very 
small, but still really large and costly structure, the tomb 
of Caius Sextius, at Rome, approaches in its proportions to 
the character of the Median pyramid (Id. p. 232). 

We have already met with one connecting point between 
the Pelasgians and Assyrians, in the tradition of Perseus ; 
for this Perseus, who became a Greek, i. e. a Pelasgian, 
was originally an Assyrian or Cushite: this town of 
Larissa, on the Tigris, as well as the name of Teutamos, 
affords other points. It is well known that a town Larissa 
is found in every Pelasgian country. There was a Pelas- 
gian fort, Larissa, on the Liris in Italy : the citadel of the 
Achean Argos was named Larissa: a town in the Troad, 
so called, is mentioned by Homer (Iliad ii. 840) ; and many 
of the name occur in Asia Minor (Strabo, lib. ix). The 
name of Teutamos is often found connected with Larissa in 
Pelasgian countries : " Teutamos, Teutamias, Teutamides, 
was a native traditional name at Larissa on the Peneus. 
We find a Teutamides Lethos at the Pelasgian Larissa in 
Troas (Iliad ii. 843), and a Teutamos at the head of those 
Pelasgians and Dorians who went to Crete. Hellanicus 
calls his Nanas, under the character of a Pelasgian fugitive, 
the son of Teutamides; and other authors have brought 
Teutamos himself into Pisa in Etruria" (Muller, vol. i. 
p. 94). Diodorus asserts that the kingdom of Troas was 
dependent on Assyria, since Priam implored and obtained 
succour from his emperor Teutames \ I shall only add 
that Memnon, king of Cush, was present with an army at 
Troy, to assist his uncle Priam. 

* Sir W. Jones on the Persians. 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 15.*5 

The Pelasgians in Thessaly, on the Po, in Tuscany, &c. 
are celebrated for their skill in embanking rivers, and in 
the drainage and irrigation of land. I have no doubt that 
they brought the art originally from their Hamite brethren 
who remained behind in the great alluvial plains of the 
Euphrates and Tigris: the canals, fosses, and numerous 
hydraulic works between these great rivers, are too well 
known to require any farther notice than a bare allusion to 
them. 

Besides Babylonia and Assyria, which were occupied by 
Nimrod, other sons of Cush appropriated to themselves the 
eastern and southern part of Arabia; from whence they 
passed over into upper Egypt on one side, and on the 
other into Persia and the western side of the Indian 
Peninsula. 

With respect to the Cushites of Arabia, Mr. Beke ob- 
serves, that it is not a mere speculative idea to conceive, 
that at a period anterior to the existence as a nation of the 
Egyptians, or even of the Ethiopians, the Peninsula of 
Arabia was the seat of a populous and mighty empire, the 
records, and indeed the remembrance of which, are now 
entirely obliterated from the volume of history. But 
though all remains of the history of these aborigines be 
irrecoverably lost, it is yet far from improbable, that in the 
country which they once inhabited, some buildings, some 
sculptures, or other remains may have defied the destroy- 
ing hand of Time even until the present day, and that 
traces, however faint, may consequently yet remain to 
testify their existence, and their former residence within it ; 
so that we may be allowed to entertain the expectation, or 
at least the hope, that when the time shall arrive (which 
sooner or later it must do), when the deserts and wilds of 



154 ON THE RELATION OF 

the interior of Arabia shall again be in the possession, or 
open to the inspection, of civilized man, some marks will 
be discovered of the former residence there of those mighty 
Cushites, that some remains will be found to exist of ages, 
which will probably carry us back to within a few genera- 
tions only from the epoch of the Dispersio6 of mankind. 
In the Appendix to the Second Volume of Burckhardt's 
Travels in Arabia, London, 18*29, 8vo, are the following 
remarks ; being the notes of information obtained by that 
traveller from natives, which are highly deserving of obser- 
vation, with reference to this subject : — " The stations of 
the caravan between Damascus and Medina are well 
known. The most interesting spot on this road, within 
the limits of Arabia, appears to be Hedger, or, as it is 
sometimes called, Medayen Saleh, seven days north of 
Medina. This place, according to many passages of the 
Koran, which has a chapter entitled Hedger, was inhabited 
by a gigantic race of men, called Beni Thamoud, whose 
dwellings were destroyed, because they refused to obey 
the admonitions of the prophet Saleh. In circumference, 
Hedger extends several miles ; the soil is fertile, watered 
by many wells and a running stream ; here are generally 
large encampments of Bedouins. An inconsiderable moun- 
tain bounds this fertile plain on the West, at about four 
miles distance from the ground where the pilgrim caravan 
usually encamps. In that mountain are large caves or 
habitations cut out of the rock, with sculptured figures of 
men and various animals, small pillars on both sides of the 
entrances, and, if I may believe the testimony of Bedouins, 
numerous inscriptions over the doors ; but I am in- 
clined to think, that the Arabs may have mistaken sculp- 
tured ornaments for letters," p. 393. And aoain. '• In 



EARLY H AMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 155 

Nedjed are many ancient wells, lined with stone, and 
ascribed by the inhabitants to a primeval race of giants. 
They are generally from twenty-five to thirty fathoms deep. 
Here likewise are numerous remains of ancient buildings, 
of very massive structure and large dimensions, but in a 
state of complete ruin. These are attributed to a primitive 
or perhaps a fabulous tribe of Arabs, the Beni Tamour 
(Thamoud), of whose supposed works some vestiges are 
likewise seen in the Syrian deserts of the Eastward plains 
of Hauran ^ 

The traveller Niebuhr, saw at Mokha the copy of an 
inscription in strange and unknown characters, which had 
been found in a province remote from the sea coast : he 
was quite convinced that it was written in the same cha- 
racters as the Cuneiform inscriptions he had seen at Perse- 
polis '\ 

The sculptured caves of Persia, as well as the Cunei- 
form writings, connect the Cushites of Persia with those 
in Arabia. On the passage of Isaiah xxii. 16 : — 

" O thou that hewest out thy sepulchre on high, 
That gravest in the rock a habitation for thyself!" 

Bishop Lowth observes : There are some monuments still 
remaining in Persia of great antiquity, called Naksi 
Rustam, which give one a clear idea of Shebna's pompous 
design for his sepulchre. They consist of several sepul- 
chres, each of them hewn in a high rock near the top ; the 
front of the rock to the valley below, is adorned with carved 
work in relievo, being the outside of the sepulchre. Some 

9 Beke's Origines Bibiicae, vol. i. p. 1 63. 
^" Niebuhr's Travels, Heron's translation, vol. ii. p. II. 



156 ON THE RELATION OF 

of these sepulchres are about thirty feet in the perpen- 
dicular from the valley ; which is itself raised perhaps above 
half as much by the accumulation of the earth since they 
were made. See the description of them in Chardin, 
Pietro della Valle, Thevenot, and Kempfer. Diodorus 
Siculus, lib. xvii. mentions these ancient Monuments, and 
calls them the sepulchres of the kings of Persia. 

The Cushite Indians on the West of Hindostan, are also 
remarkable for their highly wrought caves. In the island 
of Elephanta, near Bombay, is an elaborate cave, which 
travellers call an Indian temple. It is 120 feet long, and 
the same in breadth, without including the measurement of 
the chapels, and the adjacent chambers. Its height within 
is nearly fifteen feet, although the floor hss been greatly 
raised by the accession of dust, and of the sediment of the 
water which falls into it in the rainy season. The whole 
of this vast structure, situate in a hill of considerable height, 
is cut out in the solid rock. The pillars supporting the 
roof are also parts of the rock which have been left standing 
by the architect. They are of an uncommon order ; but 
have an agreeable enough effect. The walls of this temple 
are ornamented with figures in bas-relief, so prominent, 
that they are joined to the rock only by the back. Many 
of these figures are of a colossal size ; being some ten, 
some twelve, and some even fourteen feet high. Neither 
in design, nor in execution, indeed, can these bas-reliefs be 
compared with the works of the Grecian sculptors; but 
they are greatly superior in elegance to the remains of the 
ancient Egyptian sculpture. They are also finer than the 
bas-reliefs ivom the ruins of Persepolis. No doubt, then, but 
the arts were cultivated by the ancient Indians with better 



EARLY HAMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 157 

success than is commonly supposed. Three similar tem- 
ples in the isle of Salset are described by Anquetil ". 

It is highly probable that these subterranean, so called 
Indian temples, were Cushite sepulchres. The account 
of the temple at Elephanta, would suit exactly as a descrip- 
tion of the sepulchres discovered in Tuscany, and of the 
family vaults in the land of Canaan mentioned by Bishop 
Lowth ; the sepulchres of ihe principal Hebrews were vast 
subterranean caves excavated by art in the solid rock, 
some of them were of such extent, as to require pillars to 
be left for the support of the roof; small recesses were 
formed in the sides to receive the dead ^^ These wonder- 
ful sepulchres in Palestine were certainly in great part the 
work of the Canaanites, the previous inhabitants ; and the 
cave, which Abraham bought of the Hittites with such 
formalities for the burying place of Sarah, Gen. xxiii., 1 
have no doubt was one of them. 

The conclusion to which I am led by the facts stated 
in this chapter, is, that the Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and 
Roman empires, were all of Hamite origin, and branded 
with the mark of the Curete worship. The Hebrew pro- 
phets under the inspiration of God, announced that there 
should be four, and only four great worldly empires ; and 
that the fifth kingdom should be of a spiritual nature. It 
is because those four empires were grounded on Hamite 
principles that Assyria, Babylon, Edom, Tyre, and Rome, 
are used indifferently and promiscuously in Scripture for 
the adversary of the Church, and as the great obstacle to 
the coming of the fifth empire, — the spiritual kingdom of 
the Messiah. The four empires formed parts of one con- 

'* Niebuhr's Travels, vol. ii. p. 391. 

12 De Sacra Poesi Hcbraeor. Part I. p. 127- 



158 



ON THE RELATION OF 



tinuous systematic Hamite dominion; just as their types, 
the members of Nebuchadnezzar's prophetic image, formed 
one body which was solely possessed and animated by the 
spirit of the great adversary, Satan : its different members 
were all equally crumbled to dust before the stone cut out 
without hands. Daniel ii. 

I have said above, that the four empires were literally 
of Hamite origin, as well as grounded on Hamite princi- 
ples ; it is my opinion, however, that they all contained both 
Japhite and Hamite elements ; although, in fact, the Ham- 
ite superstition, progressing at an equal pace with the 
diffusion of Hamite knowledge, soon leavened the whole 
lump. The following table expresses my idea of the mixed 
composition of the great empires of the world : — 



Empire. 
First or Babylonian. \ 

Second or Persian. 



Nation. 
Assyrians. 
Chaldae Babylonians. 

Medes. 
Persians. 



Third or Grecian. 



Fourth or Roman. 



{ 

J Pelasgians. 

(^ Proper Greeks. 

j Tyrrhenians and Tuscans. 

(^ Sabines or Old Prussians. 



Race. 
Hamite. 
.Japhite. 

Japhite- 
Hamite. 

Hamite. 
Japhite. 

Hamite. 
Japhite. 



If the proper Persians, as is supposed above, were of 
Hamite origin, it is quite impossible that their language 
could belong to the Indo-European class. Now, among 
the dialects anciently spoken in Iran, there was one of very 
extensive use, but from its mixed nature, is of very uncer- 
tain character. The Pehlvi, an obsolete language of 
Persia, was so called from the Heroes who spoke it in 
former times, or from Pahlu, a tract of land which included, 

12 



EARLY H AMITE TRIBES TO EUROPE. 159 

we are told, some considerable cities of Irak ''. Rask '* 
adopts the supposition of Sir W. Erskine, that it was a 
corrupt Indo-European dialect, formed on the Western 
limits of the Persian empire in Chuzistan and Luristan, 
after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus ; and they find a 
confirmation of this opinion in the fact, that the greater 
half of Pehlvi consists of Semitic words, and particularly of 
Chaldee. But as I have come to the conclusion, on inde- 
pendent grounds, that the proper Persians were of Hamite 
and probably of Cushite origin, I conceive that Sir W. 
Jones is nearer the truths who states, that a careful exami- 
nation of the subject gave him a perfect conviction that the 
Pahlavi was a dialect of the Chaldaick. The Persians 
themselves said, according to Herodotus, vi. 54., that Per- 
seus, who became a Greek, i. e. a Pelasgian, was originally 
an Assyrian, or Cushite ; my opinion, therefore, is, that 
Pehlvi was a corrupt Cushite dialect, and akin to the lan- 
guage of the Cushite Nimrod in Babylon and Assyria. 
After Cyrus had ascended the throne of the combined 
Medo- Persian empire, Pehlvi was the current idiom, and 
remained the predominant language for a long period : 
Cyrus himself resided seven months of the year at Babylon, 
where a Cushite dialect must have been originally verna- 
cular ; two months at Susa, and the remaining three 
months at Ecbatana in Media : a practice^ which was kept 
up by his Hamite successors, the Achsemenidse. 

Note. — I had made some progress in this Work on the 
usual supposition, that the Pelasgians were related to the 
Greeks, and that the Persians belonged to the Indo-Euro- 

^^ Sir W. Jones on the Persians. 

** Rask uberdie Zendsprache, p. 12. 



160 ON THE RELATION OF EARLY HAMITE TRIBES, &C. 

pean family : but a closer investigation of this division of 
the subject has brought me to a directly opposite conclu- 
sion. It therefore became necessary to make alterations in 
the earlier portions of the treatise, and I have done so 
wherever the Pelasgians were incidentally mentioned ; but 
as I could not substitute for the term Perso^European any 
thing more satisfactory to myself, and as it is quite possible 
that my present view may not meet with general favour, I 
came to the resolution of leaving the whole of Part I. in 
its original state, on account of the convenient nomencla- 
ture and arrangement. But, although I now attach not 
the slightest historical importance to the division of the 
European languages into Median and Persian, yet it is 
still evident, that there were three original Iranian dialects; 
viz., Sanskrit, Zend, and some third language to which the 
name of Persian seems not appropriate. 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE PELASGIANS OF ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 

" Though to the Greeks the history of the Pelasgians began in Greece, and 
we are, therefore, unable to pursue it further, it should be remembered, 
that this is only an accidental termination of our researches, and that the 
road does not necessarily end, where the guide stops." — Thirlwall's Greece. 

Wild and barbarous was the state of Greece in general, 
when Crete, the largest of its islands, had acquired a polity 
singularly regular, attended of course with superior civili- 
zation. In vain, however, would we enquire at what 
precise period, in what state of society, by what exertions 
of wisdom and courage, and through what assistance of 
fortunate contingencies, so extraordinary a work was accom- 
plished : for many centuries elapsed before written records 
became common, and traditions are vague, various, and, 
for the most part, inexplicably mixed with fable. Crete 
is thus a great object for the dissertator and the antiquarian. 
Curiosity is excited by those scanty glimmerings of inform- 
ation which have preserved to us the names of the Cabeiri, 
Telchines, Curetes, Corybantes, Idsei Dactyli, with 



IQ2 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

Saturn, Jupiter, and other personages, either of this island, 
or connected with it in mysterious history. Still more it 
is excited by that system of laws, which in an age of savage 
ignorance, violence, and uncertainty among surrounding 
nations, enforced civil order, and secured civil freedom to 
the Cretan people, which was not only the particular model 
of the wonderful polity so well known to us through the 
fame of Lacedaemon, but appears to have been the general 
fountain of Grecian legislation and jurisprudence; and 
which continued to deserve the eulogies of the greatest 
sages and politicians, in the brightest periods of literature 
and philosophy. The glory of this establishment is gene- 
rally given to Minos, a prince of the island ; whose history 
was, however, so dubiously transmitted to posterity, that it 
remained undecided among Grecian writers, whether he 
was a native or a foreigner. Some indeed attributed the 
final improvement only to Minos, referring the first insti- 
tution to Rhadamanthus, in a still earlier age ; and some 
have supposed two princes of the name of Minos, in differ- 
ent periods. The evidence of Homer, however, though 
delivered partly in the enigmatical language in which 
poetry often indulges, appears to determine that Minos, 
the only Minos whom he knew, and, it may be added, 
whom Aristotle knew, was not of Cretan origin, but a chief 
of adventurers from Phenicia. Mitford, ch. i. sect. 2. 

From the statement here made by the historian of 
Greece, it would appear a hopeless endeavour to extract a 
particular account of Cretan antiquities from the usual 
historical sources ; but by following out the hint, that the 
lawgiver Minos was a Phenician, i. e. a Canaanite, we may 
hope to derive from Scripture some information concerning 
the Cretan origin and civilization. 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 163 

According to Herodotus (i. 173), Crete originally was 
wholly possessed by barbarians, i. e. its earlier inhabitants 
spoke a language which had no affinity with Greek, and 
which, therefore, for the reasons given in the last Chapter, 
must have belong-ed to the Hamite class. Now the Cretim 
(in Hebrew D'mD, in the English version Cherethites), 
who are mentioned by the prophets Ezekiel and Zepha- 
niah^5 were certainly Cretans, and of the same stock with 
those which occur in Grecian history : that this was the 
opinion of the Seventy is shown by their translating the 
word Kprireg ; but in the prophetical and historical books of 
the Hebrews, the Cretim are mentioned as identical, or at 
least cognate, with the Philistim. The Philistim, like the 
Cretans, were skilful bowmen (1 Sam. xxxi. 3), and when 
David made peace with them, he employed some of their 
archers as his body-guard, although it was most probably 
some of the Cretan division whom he took into pay ; for it 
became a common practice afterwards with the Cretans to 
let out their services, as mercenaries, in the cause of other 
states : this body-guard of king David are the Cherethites 
(Cretim), who are often mentioned in the sequeP. 

In Asia Minor we find, in close connexion with the 
Cretans, a whole series of tribes who occupy an important 
place in the early history of Greece and Rome. The 
Carians, of Cretan origin, were formerly islanders, under 
the dominion of Minos, and were called Leleges (Herod, 
i. 171) ; in early times, says Thucydides (i. 8), they were 
the principal pirates, together with the Phenicians or 
Canaanites. The Lydians and Mysians were of kindred 



^ Ezek. XXV. 15. Zeph. ii. 5. 

2 See Bp. Patrick on 1 Saril. xxx. 14. 2 Sam. viii. 18. 

M 2 



164 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

origin with the Carians; and this relationship is repre- 
sented after the usual manner in the native account that 
Lydus and Mysus were brothers of Cars, the phylarch of 
the Carian race (Herod, i. 171). Herodotus (i. 10) ex- 
pressly calls the Lydians barbarians ; and Homer distin- 
guishes the Carians by the epithet fBapfiapocfxDvai. 

The Lycians were a Cretan colony under Sarpedon : 
their laws were partly Cretan and partly Carian : the 
people themselves were anciently called Solymi (Herod, i. 
173). Their government was an elective monarchy ; and 
so prosperous that in ancient times they held the command 
of the sea as far as Italy (Strabo xiv). The primitive 
Lycians were also remarkable for their skill in masonry : 
according to Strabo (lib. viii), the massive walls of Tiryns 
were built by Cyclops expressly sent for from Lycia ; and 
he conceives that the " Cyclopean Caves," with their arti- 
ficial labyrinths near to Nauplia, the port of Argos, were 
the work of these same Lycian Cyclops. In connexion with 
these Cyclopean builders, the Lycian Solymi from Crete, 
we may reasonably mention the Kenites, an ancient Ca- 
naanite nation, who were great builders of rock fortresses : 
" Strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest 
in a rock" (Numb. xxiv. 21. Gen. xv. 19). Now tl^ese 
Kenites, in the Chaldee paraphrase, are called Solymi, 
WDb'ii:, like the Solymi of the Cretan Lycians. The iden- 
tity of the names is evident from comparing the Hebrew 
Jeru-salem with the Greek 'Upo-ao\vina, or the Latin 
Solyma. This city, so well known by description to every 
Christian reader, affords a good instance of the rock for- 
tresses which were built by these Solymean Cyclops: it 
withstood the attacks of the Israelites for some centuries 
after the Exodus, and remained in the possession of the 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 165 

original Jebusites till the time of the Kings : " Neverthe- 
less David took the strong hold of Zion'' (2 Sam. v). It 
would appear, then, that the Jebusites were Solymeans, 
and of kindred origin with the Hamite Philistines, Cretans, 
Lycians. 

I do not here undertake to determine whether the Lyd- 
ians, Lycians, Mysians, are to be counted to the Mitzrite 
Philistim and Ludim (Gen. x), or to the Canaanite Tyrians 
and Tyrrhenians : I content myself with stating distinctly 
that they certainly were not Greeks ; but belonged, con- 
trary to the prevalent opinion, to the great Hamite class of 
nations. To point out the importance of having a clear 
insight into the origin of these tribes, in reference to the 
early history of the West, it is only necessary to mention 
that in one account of the Tyrrhenian migration to Italy, 
Lydus and Tyrrhenus are called sons of Atys, king of 
Lydia ; and that, in another, the emigrants are said to have 
been Mysians under the guidance of Tarchon and Tyrrhe- 
nus, sons of Telephus, king of Mysia; whilst Telephus 
himself was of Arcadian, i. e. of Pelasgian, descent. 

Thessaly. — Thessaly, unless we should except Crete, was 
the oldest object of poetical story and popular tradition of 
any part of Greece ; and, had we means of investigation, 
were perhaps the worthiest of historical curiosity. We read 
of kings there who extended their dominion southward as 
far as the Corinthian isthmus, and who left monuments of 
their wisdom that survived almost all memory of their 
power. In Thessaly als(5, at the port of lolcus (on the 
Pelasgian gulf), we are told, was made the first successful 
attempt to build a ship of size superior to what had before 
been known ; and thence sailed the celebrated expedition 



166 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

of the Argonauts. With the assistance of the wealth and 
power of his uncle, who was prince of the district, and of 
the skill of a Phenician (or Canaanite) mechanic, Jason 
built a vessel larger than had hitherto been common among 
the Greeks ; and conducted a pirating expedition — then an 
honourable undertaking — to a greater distance'than any had 
ventured before him (Mitford, ch. i. sect. 3). 

At the time when the Carians were still inhabiting the 
Cyclades, and were even settled wdth other barbarous 
nations in several quarters on the continent of Hellas, 
while the Hellens were confined to the northern moun- 
tains, the Peloponnesus and the largest part of Hellas 
belonged to the Pelasgians ; but this was a very small por- 
tion of the countries they occupied. Thessaly was their 
second great seat in Hellas, or, as it was then generally 
called, in Argos. Hence Thessaly was termed the Pelas- 
gian Argos ; and a part of it retained the name of Pelas- 
giotis : the hypothesis which supposes the Pelasgians in the 
middle of Italy to have migrated thither from the East, 
brings them from Thessaly, as if this were their proper 
home ; and the words Thessalian and Pelasgian are used 
as equivalent (Niebuhr's Rome, vol. i. p. 29). 

From the Phoronis of Hellanicus we learn that Nanas, 
the son of Teutamides, was the fourth in descent from 
Pelasgus, king of the Pelasgians, and Menippe, the 
daughter of Peneus ; in the reign of Nanas, the Pelas- 
gians were driven out of Thessaly by the Hellens, they 
crossed the Adriatic, and, landing on the river of Spina at 
the mouth of the Po, occupied Cortona ; from thence they 
spread into Tyrrhenia and settled there (Dionys. i. 28). 

Beotia.—ThQ oldest known inhabitants of Beotia were 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 167 

various barbarous tribes of kindred origin with the Pelas- 
gians ; Aones, Leleges, Hyantes, &c. Afterwards came the 
Phenicians from Tyre, under Cadmus, who built the for- 
tress Cadmea upon an eminence of great strength, and laid 
the foundation of Thebes. These Cadmeans gained the 
command over nearly all the former Pelasgian inhabitants 
of Beotia. A little after the war of the Epigoni, the Cad- 
means were driven out of Beotia by the original Pelasgians, 
and formed in Thessaly a lasting government in company 
with the Arneans, under the common name of Beotians. 
These Beotian Cadmeans, at the time of the ^olic migra- 
tion, returned from Arne to Beotia, and drove out the 
original Pelasgians to Athens; they obtained settlements 
in Attica, at the foot of Hymettus, in return for surround- 
ing the Acropolis with a wall : from them a part of Athens 
was called Pelasgian (Strabo, lib. ix).'^1^iebuhr speaks of 
them as follows: " A wandering people, called Pelasgians, 
had obtained settlements in Attica, at the foot of Hymet- 
tus, after the Dorian migration, on condition of performing 
taskwork for the state. They came last out of Beotia, hav- 
ing some time before acted in concert with the Thracians 
in wresting that country from the Cadmeans, who had now 
returned from Arne : but their first appearance had been 
in Acarnania; and all Pausanias could learn about their 
extraction, was, that they were Sicelians. That is, so runs 
the story, they came from the south of Etruria, where 
their king, Maleotes, had resided in the neighbourhood of 
Graviscse : at all events, they must undoubtedly have called 
themselves Tyrrhenians. This name remained with their 
descendants, who abode for a long time in Lemnos and 
Imbrus, and are said to have driven out the Minyse from 
thence ; afterward, being compelled by the Athenians to 

12 



168 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

emigrate anew, they turned their course — some to the 
Hellespont, some to the coast of Thrace and the peninsula 
of mount Athos. Hence Thucydides says, ' Athos is inha- 
bited by a Pelasgian race, the Tyrrhenians, who were 
formerly settled in Attica and Lemnos' " (vol. i. p. 40). 

A part of the Pelasgians who migrated from Attica, 
founded Placia and Scylace on the Hellespont, and spoke 
a barbarous language in the time of Herodotus (i. 57) ; 
and it should be remarked that the Pelasgians in Italy and 
on the Hellespont, from whose dialect Herodotus person- 
ally inferred that the language of the whole race was bar- 
barous, were descendants of those who had formerly come 
from Thessaly and Beotisi, and whose history has been 
given above. The Pelasgian language is called barbarous 
throughout; yet so deeply rooted is the opinion that the 
Pelasgians were akin to the proper Greeks, that even the 
name of Cadmus himself, who led the Phenician colony 
from Tyre into Beotia, is said to have been Greek. Cad- 
mus, says Muller, stands at the head of heroic history at 
Thebes ; but that the name is of Greek origin is clear from 
its admitting of composition with the particle e«, in the arti- 
ficer's name Eu-cadmus (vol. i. p. 77). It has, however, 
quite as good a claim to a Canaanite or Hamite descent ; 
for a son of Ishmael's was called Cadmeh (Gen. xxv. 15) ; 
a town named Cadmeth is mentioned in Josh. xiii. 18; and 
an ancient people of Canaan are called Cadmonim (Gen. 
XV. 19). These last, as Mitford has noticed, resemble in 
name the people of Beotia, who are sometimes called 
Cadmeionai by Homer, though more generally Cadraeioi. 
But even the philological argument for the Greek origin 
of Cadmus is inconclusive ; for Phrat n^D is the acknow- 
ledged Hamite name of a well known liver (Gen. xv. 18), 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 169 

yet it lias been transformed by the Greeks into Eu-phrates, 
by compounding it with the same particle as in the case of 
Eu-cadmus. 

The oriental derivation of the name of Cadmus, says 
Mr. Thirlwall, is indeed as uncertain as the original import 
of that of Phoenix, which Hellanicus gives to his father, 
but which was used by the Greeks as one of the proper 
names of their native heroes. Thebes, likewise, showed 
what were thought to be the traces of Phenician worship ; 
and the story of the sphynx, whatever may have been its 
origin, may seem to point, if not to Phenicia, at least 
toward the East. On the other hand, modern writers find 
in the legends of Cadmus and his consort Harmonia, in 
their connexion with Samothrace, and with the mysterious 
Cabiri, decisive marks of a Pelasgian origin (Greece, 
vol. i. p. 69). {/ 

This author's opinion concerning the Pelasgian tongue 
is thus expressed : " If this is the right point of view, it 
would be capricious to doubt that the portion or element — 
for it includes both substance and form — which the Latin 
language has in common with the Greek, was immediately 
derived from the Pelasgians. It will then follow that the 
Pelasgian language was at least the basis of the Greek 
itself, and that it may be far more correctly considered 
either as a dialect, or an early stage of it, than as totally 
foreign to it. This general result seems to be well esta- 
blished ; but all attempts to define more exactly the rela- 
tion between the two languages, and to describe the 
characteristic marks, can only rest on analogies arbitrarily 
chosen and applied. We must be content with knowing 
both as to the language and the race, that no notion of them 



'v^' 



170 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

which either confounds or rigidly separates them, will bear 
the test of historical criticism" (Id. p. 56). 

Niebuhr, also, hofds the common opinion of an affinity 
between the Pelasgian and Greek idioms. He says that the 
Pelasgians were a different nation from the ^ellens : their 
language was peculiar and not Greek : this assertion, how- 
ever, must not be stretched to imply a difference like that 
between the Greek and the TUyrian or Thracian. Nations, 
whose languages were more nearly akin than the Latin and 
Greek, would still speak so as not to be mutually under- 
stood ; and this is what Herodotus has in his eye ; who, dis- 
tinctly as he draws a line between the two nations, yet 
deviates from all other Greek writers in ranking the Epirots 
among the Hellens. That there was an essential affinity, 
notwithstanding the difference, is probable, from the ease 
with which so many of the Pelasgian nations ripened into 
Hellens, as well as from the Latin language containing an 
element which is half Greek, and the Pelasgic origin of 
which seems unquestionable. Herodotus says, that in pro- 
cess of time they grew to be accounted Greeks (vol. i. 27). 
For the statement that their language was peculiar and not 
Greek, Niebuhr refers to Herodotus (i. 57), who expressly 
declares that the only conclusion he could arrive at was, that 
the Pelasgians spoke a barbarous tongue, /3ap/3apov yXtsta- 
aav^* In fact, I conceive that all the tribes mentioned 
above in this chapter, were of kindred origin with the 
Pelasgians, and of Hamite descent. 

The philologist and grammarian Pott speaks hesitatingly 



3 Muller, also, on this passage of Herodotus, calls the Pelasgian a pecu- 
liar language : eigenthumliche sprache. Vol. i. p. 95. 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 171 

concerning the Pelasgians. What know we of the Tyr- 
rhenian or Pelasgian language ? Granting it were Greek — 
which certainly is not yet established, and the opposite 
opinion is nearly as probable, &c. (vol. i. p. xxix). And 
again : On these grammatical grounds we arrive at the 
conclusion, which only lately has gained a hearing, though 
the Etruscan, Umbrian, and other old Italian inscriptions 
proclaimed it loudly and intelligibly enough to the unpre- 
judiced, that the Roman dominion and language had swal- 
lowed up many races and idioms in Italy, which it were a 
mere folly and fruitless labour to attempt to force into an 
affinity with the inhabitants and speech of Latium. It is 
certain that not all old Italian languages are cognate with 
Latin, or have even a general affinity with the Indo- 
European class : the same thing, without any great degree 
of boldness, may be predicated of Greece in its wider 
extent of Epirus and Thrace. The Greeks and Latins, 
together with the related tribes in Central and Lower 
Italy, most probably constituted a single people previously 
to their separation, of which our histories have preserved 
no record. One branch of this race broke in from the 
North upon Italy, and the other upon Greece ; and both 
of them, I believe, found the respective territories already 
occupied by a population which was of an entirely different 
origin (vol. ii. p. 433). It has been my object to show that 
this previous population belonged to the Hamite class of 
nations ; and that the ancient people, from whom the Greeks 
and Romans had a common descent, were the Medo-Gre- 
cians, whose language formed the basis of Latin, and of the 
Latin part of Greek. 

We have seen that the Thessalian Pelasgians, who took 
possession of Cortona, and sent out colonies from it for the 



172 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

peopling of Tuscany, landed at Spina. According to Pliny, 
the mouths of the Po at Spina and Caprasia were the only 
original and natural outlets of that river; all the more 
northern streams and canals were dug by the Tuscans, in 
order to control the violence of the river lj)y discharging 
some part of it into the morasses of the Atrians. Pliny's 
expression, omnia ea Jiumina fossasque (iii. 20), " all those 
streams and canals," evidently refers, says MuUer, to all the 
more northerly outlets, and necessarily includes the Fossa 
Philistina. This name must be Tuscan ; it certainly is not 
Latin : Mazocchi calls it Hebrew, and explains from the 
same source the names of several places in this neighbour- 
hood (Muller, vol. i. p. 226). It is curious that this plainly 
foreign name should occur in the valley of the Po, as it will 
be shown in the next chapter that the Rabbis continue 
forward the prophecies concerning Tyre and the Philis- 
tines to Venice ; which prophecies could be applied to 
Venice only as the representative of the Hamite Pelas- 
gians at Spina. 

The Tyrian Cadmeans, who were driven out of Beotia, 
formed, according to Strabo (lib. ix), a close union with 
the Arneans of Thessaly, who were therefore probably a 
kindred colony from Tyre, or at least from Canaan ; and 
it is not at all impossible that the Thessalian Pelasgians, 
who landed at Spina and peopled Tuscany under the name 
of Tyrrhenians, consisted in part of these very Cadmeans 
and Arneans from Tyre or Canaan. In Italy we meet with 
a tribe of Ami, a city Arne, and a river Arnus ; this city 
and river most certainly derived their name from some 
Canaanitish Arni or Arneans, in the way that a colony of 
Philistines executed and bequeathed tlieir name to the 
Fossa Philistina: a river Arnon and a city Cadmeth both 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 173 

occur in the book of Joshua (xiii. 16. 18); and an appa- 
rently Canaanite town, Phoenicis, on the lake Copais in 
Beotia, is mentioned by Strabo (lib. ix). 

With these arguments before them, surely the most 
sceptical and prejudiced will allow that there are some 
reasonable grounds for referring the Tyrrhenians of Italy, 
through] Spina and Cadmeia, to Tyre and Canaan. The 
Trojans also belonged to the same race. Niebuhr observes 
that " every thing we have to build upon in the old mytho- 
logical stories, with a view to discovering the affinities of 
ations, indicat es that which existed between the Trojans 
and the Pelasgian tribes — the Arcadians, the Epirots, the 
CEnotrians, but more especially the Tyrrhenian Pelasgians. 
Dardanus comes from the city of Corythus to Samothrace, 
and from thence to the Simois : Corythus, in Virgil, is a 
Tyrrhenian, according to Hellanicus and Cephalon, a Tro- 
jan; this interchange, the expedition of the Trojans to 
Latium and Campania, and the wanderings of the Tyr- 
rhenians to Lemnos, Imbrus, and the Hellespont, may safely 
be interpreted as' designating nothing more than national 
affinity" (vol. i. p. 187). From this statement of Niebuhr's, 
I infer that the Trojans were Tyrians, or at least of Hamite 
origin. He had before remarked that it is somewhat sur- 
prising to find the Roman poets calling the Greeks very 
often I^elasgians : we are all familiar with this usage from 
the days of our youth and of the ^neid : the practice of 
the Greek epic poets, even of the Alexandrian school, no 
way justifies the Roman; yet the latter begins even with 
Ennius: — 

" Cum veter occubuit Priamus sub Marte Pelasgo^." 
♦ Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 36. 



174 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

But I feel no hesitation in asserting, however startling it 
may sound, that Troy and Hector, Achilles and his pre- 
ceptor Phoenix, were all of Canaanitish origin ; and this 
view affords a simple explanation of a circumstance which 
Mitford calls most unaccountable. " Homer's Grecian chro- 
nology begins thus scarcely before the age of Pelops — a 
generation or two earlier than the Theban war — and it 
ends with the restoration of Orestes, great-grandson of 
Pelops, to the throne of Argos. Within these limits, 
Grecian history is regular and probable; and chronology, 
according to every opinion of the learned who have endea- 
voured to illustrate it, sufficiently tallies with the course of 
events. But this luminous period stands most oddly insu- 
lated. That it should have been preceded by times without 
history is not wonderful ; but that it should have been fol- 
lowed by so many centuries of utter darkness as chronolo- 
gers have imagined, appears most unaccountable" ( Appen- 
dix to chap. iii). " The dark period which begins where 
Homer's history ends," was the turbulent period of transi- 
tion from one race of men to another, which was in no way 
connected with the former in its interests and feelings : the 
supremacy of the Hamites had passed away, and nations of 
Japhite origin were gaining the ascendant. 

" As there are creatures of races which seem to have 
survived from a period of other forms, standing like aliens 
left to pine away in an altered world, so the Pelasgians, in 
the portion of history within the reach of our monuments 
and legends, appear only in a state of ruin and decay ; and 
it is this that makes them so mysterious. The old traditions 
spoke of them as a race pursued by the heavenly powers 
with never-ending calamities ; and the traces of their abode 
in very widely distant regions gave rise to the fancy, that 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 175 

they had roamed about from land to land in the hope of 
escaping from these afflictions" (Nieb. vol. i. p. 28). The 
Pelasgians were Canaanites ^ ; and the description which is 
here given of them by Niebuhr, might serve as a para- 
phrase on the expressive words of Scripture : " Cursed be 
Canaan. — Afterwards were the families of the Canaanites 
spread abroad." 

All the people of this race were remarkable, not only for 
their skill in draining marshes and lakes, but also for the 
gigantic scale on which they exercised the art. " The 
greatest part of Tuscany is mountainous : the rich valley 
through which the Arno flows, was anciently a lake and 
swamp. There was a lake from Segna to below Fiesole, 
and toward Prato: the valley was blocked up by mount 
Gonfalina ; this rock has been cut through, and a passage 
opened for the stream toward Pisa. When the walls of 
Fiesole were built, this whole extent was still filled with 
water; as is proved by the aperture for drains. On the 
Po, in the neighbourhood of Hadria, the art of turning off 
muddy rivers had been practised by the Etruscans with 
success ; which rivers, if kept shut up between dams, are 
continually raising their beds, so that after the lapse of cen- 
turies they stand on a level far above that of the adjoining 
country ; and hence it becomes necessary to raise the dykes 
in the same proportion, until the perseverance of man is at 
last exhausted in the unequal contest with the powers of 
nature. Now one among the useful arts carried on by the 
Tuscans in our days, is that of diverting such waters into 



5 Hyginus dicit Pelasgos esse, qui Tyrrheni sunt ; hoc etiam Varro com- 
meniorat. — Servius in ^n. viii. 600. 



176 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

marshes, in order to draw them off again, when the ferti- 
lizing deposit has been secreted : by this system the Chiana 
lias gradually been converted from a barren pestilential 
swamp into a rich plain. It is with reference to the over- 
laying of swamps like the Chiana, a process which at the 
same time prevents the bed of the river growing higher, 
that we must understand Pliny's account of the stream of 
the Po being guided by the Tuscans into the morasses of 
the Hadrians : similar works are needed there at this day. 
The channels, too, by which the Po discharges itself, were 
dug by the Tuscans or by their subjects ; and their canals 
and dams were the means by which its delta w as constructed" 
(Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 128). 

Now the Pelasgians of Thessaly and other countries 
practised, with as great success as the Etruscans, the art of 
turning muddy rivers into their low marshy grounds for 
the purpose of reclaiming or fertilizing them : land brought 
under cultivation in this manner is expressively called by 
the Greeks Trorajuoxworov. We know that a town Larissa 
is found in most Pelasgian countries ; but Strabo notices 
three in particular where such land occurs, namely, among 
the Thessalians, Phricones, and on the Cayster : the inha- 
bitants of these places possess a territory irorafioxuxTTov, 
reclaimed and fertilized by their respective rivers, — the 
Peneus, Hermus, and Cayster (lib. xiii). But land so situ- 
ated must have been particularly exposed to inundations 
from sudden and unseasonable rains ; and Strabo mentions 
an occasion on which the Larisseans of Thessaly suffered 
extensive damage from such a catastrophe : the might of 
the river overpowered the skill of man, and reduced their 
richly cultivated low ground to its original condition of a 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 177 

lake or swamp; but the scientific Pelasgians recovered the 
territory by an increased attention to the embankments of 
the Peneus (lib. ix). 

Other tribes of this Hamite race, who settled in Beotia, 
and built the city Phoenicis on the lake Copais, are distin- 
guished for their greatness in this and similar arts. " The 
supposing that a race of giants must have been the archi- 
tects of the walls composed of enormous polygonal blocks, 
in what are called the Cyclopian cities, from Prseneste, 
and even Ardea, to Alba in the land of the Marsians, as 
well as of the walls of Tiryns which are exactly similar ; 
such an opinion," says Niebuhr, " is an expression of the 
untutored understanding. That these walls are not the 
works of those tribes which our history meets with in 
Latium, inasmuch as they are greatly beyond their powers, 
we are certainly forced to pronounce ; but we must content 
ourselves with confessing, that our history does not reach 
back far enough. In like manner the vaulted drains of 
the lake Copais, which are carried for thirty stadia through 
the solid rock, and the clearing of which surpassed the 
power of Beotia in the time of Alexander, are certainly 
the work of a people prior to the Greeks." Niebuhr adds, 
" Our finding that the Tyrrhenian Pelasgians (the Pelas- 
gians driven out of Beotia by the Cadmeans) were em- 
ployed to build a fortress on the Acropolis at Athens, might 
lead us to conjecture that the nation enjoyed a peculiar 
celebrity for this kind of architecture." Vol. i. p. 171. 

Marks of a kindred civilization can be pointed out 
between the Tuscans and the Lydians, Mysians, &c. ; such 
coincidences demand particular attention, on account of 
the explicit declaration of Herodotus, (i. 94.) that the 
Tyrrhenians of Italy were a Lydian Colony. It has, how- 

N 



178 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

ever, become quite the fashion to under-rate this testimony, 
and to call in question the whole account. " The origin 
of the Tuscans from these Lydian settlers," says Muller, 
" is now with reason fairly given up ; yet it is surprising 
how deeply that belief is rooted in the histO|ry and tradi- 
tions of the Tuscans themselves." Vol. i. p. 72. Micali 
can find for this piece of history no better terms than 
romance and fable ; yet, seeing that he has written most 
elaborately to prove the Egyptian origin of the Tuscan 
civilization, the three simple words " Mitzraim begat 
Ludim," in Gen. x., might have had a talismanic effect in 
converting for him this romance into reality, and this fable 
into true history, if he could in any way have connected 
the Mitzrite Ludim with the Lydian forefathers of the 
Tuscans. Now Rosenmuller, in his Scholium on Gen. x. 
13, gives the following account of this people : — Concern- 
ing these Ludim we know nothing more with certainty, 
than that they were a warlike African nation at a consider- 
able distance from Palestine; they were, however, not 
situated in the interior of Africa, but towards the West ; 
in Ezek. xxvii. 10, they are mentioned as mercenaries in 
the Tyrian army, and if they had lived beyond Philoe in 
Ethiopia, it is not probable, they would have been engaged 
in the service of Tyre. 

If, therefore, these Mitzrite Ludim were the ancestors 
of the Lydians who settled in Italy, as mentioned by 
Herodotus, we need not be surprised at finding some traces 
of an intercourse between the Tyrians, Lydians, and 
Italians. Now the prophet Isaiah, ch. xxiii., points out 
clearly, that there existed a very close intimacy between 
Tyre on one side, and Tarshish and Chittim on the other ; 
and it may be shown, that Italy has at least as good a claim 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 179 

iis any other country to be identified with Chittim. In 
Gen. X. 4, the Hebrew word is CD^nD, Cetim, in the 
Septuagint, K^not, Cetii, in the Jerusalem Targum, 
*K»^IO>K, Italia ; and in Numb. xxiv. 24. Chittim is 
rendered in the Jerusalem Targum, ^<^nnD^, Lombardia; 
in the Vulgate, by Italia. 

According to Bochart (Phaleg. iii. 5), and Michaelis 
(Spicil. i. p. 103), Chittim is without doubt the name of 
that part of Italy which is in the neighbourhood of Rome ; 
and Dionysius mentions a city, Cetia, which is situated in 
Latium itself. Some authors derive the Romans and 
Latins from the Citii or Cetii, and say that this was the 
primeval name of the inhabitants of that peninsula ^ In 
Homer, Odys. xi. 518, a son of Telephus, king of Mysia, 
commanded the Ceteians; the Scholiast on the passage 
states, on the authority of Alcseus, that the Ceteians were 
a particular tribe of Mysians. 

From these statements there is reason to infer, that there 
was some real ground of connexion between the Lydians 
and Italians; the only reasonable objection arises from the 
Scriptural statement, that Tarshish and Chittim were the 
sons of Javan, and the grandsons of Japheth ; from which 
it would follow, that the aboriginal inhabitants of Spain 
and Italy were not Hamites, but belonged to the Indo- 
European class. But this is only an apparent difficulty ; 
for the Pelasgians, says Plutarch in Romulo, according to 
ancient tradition, roved over the greatest part of the world, 
and having subdued the inhabitants, took up their residence 
in the countries which they had conquered. In these par- 

'' See Rosenmuller in Gen. x. 4. Suidas says that Telephus, who was 
son of Hercules and surnamed Latinus, gave the Latin name to the ancient 
Cetii of Italy. 

n2 



180 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

ticiilar instances, the Hamite Pelasgians had subdued the 
native Indo-European inhabitants of Spain and Italy; and 
established, as we have seen, a Curete kingdom in both 
countries. 

One general point of resemblance between/^the Tuscans 
and Lydians is, the epithet " barbarous," with which both 
races are distinguished by the Greeks and Romans, and 
which shows that the Tuscan and Lydian idioms had no 
aflSnity with Greek or Latin. Herodotus expressly ranks 
the Lydians among barbarous nations, and Cicero places 
the Tuscans in the same class : e barbaris nulli ante mari- 
timi prseter Etruscos et Poenos, De Rep. lib. ii. 4. Pau- 
sanias says, that Arimnus, king of the Tyrseni, was the 
first of the barbarians, irpiorog (dapf^apiov, who made an 
offering to Jupiter at Olympia, lib. v. 12. This barbarous 
character of the Tuscan language would be only a natural 
consequence of their descent from the barbarous Lydians ; 
the circumstance is mentioned here only to point out that 
it is not at variance with the Lydian migration recorded by 
Herodotus. 

The sepulchre of Alyattes, king of Lydia, with its five 
termini bearing inscriptions, Herod, i. 93, brings to mind 
the tomb of the Tuscan Porsenna with its five pyramids : 
the celebrated mausoleum, erected by Artemisia, was 
Carian. 

The Lycian polity, like the Tuscan, was an elective 
monarchy ; and so prosperous, that it once held the com- 
mand of the sea as far as Italy. We have already seen 
that the Lycians were a kindred race with the Lydians and 
Carians, but it was peculiar to the Lycians that their 
genealogies were reckoned by the mother's side, Herod, i. 
173; and it is remarkable, that the epitaphs in the ancient 

12 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 181 

Tuscan sepulchres, distinguish the individual much more 
frequently by his mother than by his father's name. 
Muller, vol. i. p. 403. 

The important conclusion which I would draw from all 
the above premises, is, that the Pelasgians and Tuscans 
belonged to the same great Hamite race; yet there are 
some distinctions which equally show, that they constituted 
different portions of that race. The walls and fortifications 
of all Pelasgian cities in Greece and Italy ar^ built of 
huge stones of a polygonal shape, whilst the materials in 
Tuscan cities are hewn into regular rectangular forms. 
" In general," says Muller, " the towns of Etruria are dis- 
tinguished in this manner from those in the rocky district 
of the Hernici and the neighbouring highlands, as well as 
from the gigantic walls of Arcadia and Argolis ; and 
thereby show that they are of more recent origin, as, in 
the common course of things, the progress is from irregular 
to regular forms, and not the reverse. On the whole, how- 
ever, it may be said, that these colossal walls on numerous 
heights form a characteristic feature peculiar to Greek and 
Italian districts ; and they may be adduced in evidence, 
that the Tuscans and the Hellens (Pelasgians?) were of 
kindred origin, and started on their career with the same 
elements of civilization ; it would therefore follow, that the 
whole art of masonry, connected with the elevated sites of 
all these Etruscan cities, must date its origin from the 
arrival of the Pelasgian Tyrrhenians in Italy." (Vol. i. 
p. 250.) It is certainly very singular, (says a writer in 
the Quarterly Review,) that wherever tradition points out 
the Pelasgian settlements, there the polygonal style of 
building should be found; but we are led to another 
curious result : in Etruria, the polygonal style of building 



/ 



182 ON THE PELASGIANS OF 

is scarcely ever discovered ; as far as it goes, this argument 
would show, that the Tyrrhenians, the main body of the 
Etrurian people, or the subjugated race, who, according to 
Niebuhr, executed their great works, were not Pelasgians 
(vol. liv. p. 440). I have already stated, that the Pelas- 
gians and Tuscans formed different subdivisions of the 
great Hamite race : to what particular tribe of it the 
Tuscans belonged will appear more plainly in the next 
chapter. ^ 

As Hercules occurs for particular notice afterwards, and 
he was extensively worshipped among Hamite tribes, the 
Tuscans, Pelasgians, Phenicians, &c., I shall conclude 
this chapter with some remarks concerning this deity, 
extracted from Mr. Thirlwall's History of Greece. 

It is sufficient to throw a single glance at the fabulous 
adventures called (by the Greeks) the labours of Hercules, 
to be convinced, that a part of them at least belongs to the 
Phenicians and their wandering god, in whose honour they 
built temples in all their principal settlements along the 
coast of the Mediterranean. To him must be attributed 
all the journeys of Hercules round the shores of Western 
Europe, which did not become known to the Greeks for 
many centuries after they had been explored by the Phe- 
nician navigators.^ The number, to which those labours 
are confined by the legend, is evidently an astronomical 
period, and thus itself points to the course of the sun 
which the Phenician god represented. The event, which 
closes the career of the Greek hero, who rises to immor- 
tality from the flames of the pile on which he lays him- 
self, is a prominent feature in the same Eastern mythology, 
and may therefore be safely considered as borrowed from 
it. All these tales may indeed be regarded as additions 



ASIA MINOR, GREECE, AND ITALY. 



183 



made at a late period to the Greek legend, after it had 
sprung up independently at home. But it is at least a 
remarkable coincidence, that the birth of Hercules is 
assigned to the city of Cadmus ; and the great works 
ascribed to him, so far as they were really accomplished by 
human labour, may seem to correspond better with the art 
and industry of the Phenicians, than with the skill and 
power of a less civilized race. But in whatever way the 
origin of the name and idea of Hercules may be explained, 
he appears without any ambiguity as a Greek hero. 
Vol. i. p. 126. ^ 



CHAPTER III 



ON THE ORIGIN AND PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 

" That which Petra is, and which Rome itself is destined to be." 

Keith on the Prophecies. 

Etruria is one of the great and, as yet, unsolved problems 
of ancient history. It is clear, that before the Romans, 
there existed in Italy a great nation, in a state of advanced 
civilization, with public buildings of vast magnitude, and 
works constructed on scientific principles, and of immense 
solidity, in order to bring the marshy plains of central and 
northern Italy into regular cultivation. They were a 
naval and commercial people, to whom tradition assigned 
the superiority, at one period, over the navigation of the 
Mediterranean. Their government seems to have been 
nearly allied to the oriental theocracies ; religion was the 
dominant principle; the ruling aristocracy a sacerdotal 
order. In their federal government, (each Etruscan Union 
consisted of twelve cities, one beyond the Apennines, one 
in Tuscany proper, one in Campania,) in their internal 
polity, in their usages, the Etrurian nation bore some 



ON THE TUSCANS. 185 

resemblance to the other races of Italy, those of aboriginal 
or Oscan descent; in their religion also, some few traces 
of similitude may be found, though that of Etruria was a 
far more regular, artificial, and powerful system ; in their 
anguage they stood entirely alone. They were named by 
the Greeks and Romans Tyrrhenians, or Tuscans; their 
land Tyrrhenia and Etruria : they called themselves, how- 
ever, by an appellation which never seems to have been 
familiarized among the other nations of Italy — the Ra-seni 
or Ra-sena (Quarterly Review, vol. liv. p. 432). 

It is no traditional opinion, says Niebuhr, which has 
taught the moderns, that, independently of the extensive 
empire they once held, they were one of the most remark- 
able nations of antiquity. The ruins of their cities, the 
numerous works of art that have been discovered, the 
national spirit of the Tuscans, who looked upon them as 
ancestors to be proud of; even the tempting mystery of a 
language utterly unknown, — all this has made the moderns 
pay more attention to them than to any other of the Italian 
tribes; and the Etruscans at this day are incomparably 
more renowned and honoured than they were in the time 
of Livy (vol. i. p. 107). I feel no doubt that every Christ- 
ian reader, in following out the views to be developed in 
the present chapter, will consider this remarkable people as 
worthy of greater attention still ; since their future destiny, 
seems to be closely bound up with the unfulfilled promises 
in God's word. Before proceeding to give what I conceive 
to be the true origin and history of the Etruscans, I shall 
premise, as a fitting introduction, the opinions of such men 
as Niebuhr, Muller, and Micali, in order that the present 
state of information on the subject may be clearly seen. 

In Niebuhr's opinion, then, the Rasena were a rude and 



186 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

warlike tribe, who, moving southward from the Rhetian 
Alps, established themselves in the country of a civilized 
people, namely, the Tyrrhenians — a Pelasgian race, of kin- 
dred origin with the Grecian — and reducing them to a state 
of bondage employed their arts in the service of the con- 
querors : the great works, the ruins of which still excite 
our astonishment, were executed by the skill and the 
enforced industry of the enslaved inhabitants of the land. 

On the other hand, Muller looks upon the Rasena as an 
indigenous people of Italy, who had originally a slight affi- 
nity with the Greeks ; but it was their good fortune to be 
quickened in the career of civilization by the arrival of 
a Greek, or half Greek, race — the Pelasgian Tyrrhen- 
ians; these had landed at Tarquinii in their flight from 
Tyrrha, in Lydia, whence they were driven by the influx 
of the genuine Greeks at the time of the Ionian migration. 
The Pelasgian Tyrrhenians originally came from Beotia, 
and in the course of their wanderings to Athens, Lemnos, 
&c., a portion of them settled at Tyrrha, from which they 
derived their name. Whilst settled there, they adopted the 
Lydian flute and trumpet, and were the means of commu- 
nicating them to the Greeks and Tuscans : to this might 
be added many other undeniable coincidences in dress, 
customs, &c. between the Pelasgian Tyrrhenians of Lydia 
and Italy. 

Very diff'erent from either of the above is the opinion of 
Micali: his view, however, appears so much nearer the 
truth, as he considers the Tuscan civilization to be of 
Hamite origin. " On some remarkable coincidences in 
the style of building, the discovery of Egyptian antiquities 
in the very oldest sepulchres, the extraordinary resem- 
blance of the sepulchres themselves with the necropoleis of 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 187 

Thebes, the apparent analogies between the Etruscan and 
the Egyptian mythology — particularly in the ceremonial 
of the dead (the Mantus of Etruria answering in his office, 
as well as closely corresponding in his name, with the 
Amenti of Egypt) ; on these grounds Signor Micali does 
not hesitate to rest his hypothesis of the civilization of 
Etruria by a sacerdotal colony from Egypt. He even ven- 
tures to conjecture the period when this migration may 
have taken place. At the disastrous epoch in the Egyptian 
annals, when the barbarous Hykshos overran Egypt, over- 
threw the native dynasties, destroyed the temples, oppressed 
the religion, enslaved alike the highest and the lowest caste, 
a great number of the leading families abandoned their 
native shores. At this time were thrown off the colonies 
mentioned by Diodorus Siculus (lib. i. c. '28). A sacerdotal 
settlement was made in Babylonia; Cecrops passed from 
Sais to Attica ; Danaus from Thebes to Argolis. During 
this general dispersion of the higher caste of the Egyptians, 
a few families may have made their way to the coasts of 
Italy, obtained the ascendancy by their superior know- 
ledge and their acquaintance with the arts of civilization, 
but chiefly by the sanctity of their priestly character, and 
established a sacerdotal aristocracy over the barbarous 
Rasenas, the indigenous inhabitants of Etruria. By their 
influence, according to Micali's theory, the Etrurian nation 
was gradually raised to the rank of a civilized, conquering, 
and commercial people, so as to establish its dominion over 
the whole of Italy, to be at one time the masters of the 
navigation of the Mediterranean, and to introduce at least 
the rudiments of the fine arts into the West (Quarterly 
Review, vol. liv. p. 443). 

It will be seen at once from the former chapters, that of 



188 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

the three influential opinions which I have stated, the last 
must coincide most nearly with my own ; it is, therefore, 
necessary to enter more fully into the arguments of the 
author, in order to show in what points he approaches the 
truth, and in what he fails. Micali (vol. i. p. 143) gives 
the following general statement of the conclusions at which 
he has arrived : — 

" That the principles of these oriental notions in Etruria 
were chiefly derived from Egypt, is not a mere ingenious 
speculation ; for we have most positive demonstration in the 
monuments themselves, which establish with the greatest 
weight of authority, that at a very early period there existed 
in Etruria a centre of civilization, contemporaneous with 
that of the East and of Egypt. 

" And here we mean to speak of the most ancient monu- 
ments, or those which at least are the representatives of the 
tenets received in the most ancient times ; in these alone the 
true and legitimate national character can be studied : those 
which betray in any manner the influence of Grecian art, 
or mythology, belonged to a period manifestly secondary, 
and can only give false notions of the history of the primi- 
tive Etruscans. Now the principal symbols which passed 
at first into Etruria, as the veil of the secret doctrines, are 
found in great numbers, particularly among the monuments 
in the sepulchres ; which men in the older times, profoundly 
impressed with religious notions, considered their true and 
eternal dwelling. There are seen Canopic vases, figures 
of biform nature, winged sphinxes, and every other kind of 
monstrous animal ; all the significant emblems of the East, 
or of mysterious Egypt — the very doctrine of Amenti 
recurs in a great many representations; the evil placed in 
opposition to the protecting genii ; scarabei in great num- 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 180 

bers ; and in what more particularly regards the arts of 
design, the workmanship and the imitation of the Egypt- 
ians, which we might almost call the Asiatic style of 
Etruria, are the great distinction of works properly called 
Tuscan. Figures having four wings and other unusual 
symbolic forms and signs, which rather distinguish the 
Phenician, or Syrian, or Babylonian divinities, show still 
further that the highly-religious Etruscans adopted, wher- 
ever they made their voyages or traded, celestial protectors, 
more particularly in the East, the abundant source of super- 
stitions. Indeed, without going so far, in the neighbouring 
Sardinia, which was inhabited by Phenicians, Cartha- 
ginians, and Etruscans, the latter might easily appropriate 
many things foreign to, yet in strict conformity with, their 
own system ; and these same Asiatic, Phenician, and Egypt- 
ian notions — the groundwork of the national Etruscan 
mythology — were so deeply rooted from their antiquity in 
Etruria, that even when the people began to fall away from 
its ancient creed, and the power of the priesthood to de- 
cline — when the arts of design wholly Grecized, imitating 
only the Hellenic models — we still find not a few of the 
symbols and the fables of the antiquated religion brought 
upon the scene, though under more graceful forms." 

In Etruria, says a writer in the Quarterly Review — 
article Micali ^ — in Etruria it is certainly very remarkable 
that the style of building presents so many points of resem- 
blance with Egypt. The construction of the tombs, hewn 
out of the solid rock, bears a close analogy to the Egyptian. 
At the first view of part of a tomb near Toscanella, in Sir 

^ I have great pleasure in referring to this article, both on account of the 
writer's own remarks, and because the original work is too costly for general 
reference. 



190 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

William Gell's book (vol. i. p, 397), which bears an Etru- 
rian inscription, we should decidedly have pronounced it 
Egyptian. In another passage, relating to the tombs of 
Tarquinii, he gives the following statement : " It is singu- 
lar that the men represented in these tombs a£e all coloured 
red, exactly as in the Egyptian paintings in the tombs of 
the Theban kings : their eyes are very long ; their hair is 
bushy and black ; their limbs lank and slender ; and the 
facial line, instead of running like that of the Greeks, 
nearly perpendicular, projects remarkably, so that in the 
outline of the face they bear a strong resemblance to the 
negro, or to the Ethiopian figures of Egyptian paintings. 
They wear round their ancles rings as ornaments, and 
armlets on their arms. Shawls of oriental patterns are also 
worn by both male and female. Many of those engaged 
in the sports have only a wrapper of linen round their loins: 
some have boots of green leather, reaching behind to the 
calf of the leg" (Gel), vol. i. p. 390). 

These, continues the reviewer, are certainly very curious 
coincidences, if they lead to nothing farther ; but the build- 
ings of the Etruscans and Egyptians present some other 
singular points of analogy. The celebrated tomb of Por- 
senna is closely allied to Egyptian art. Varro, at least, 
whose description of this remarkable monument has been 
preserved by Pliny, had no Egyptian theory to maintain, 
and could hardly have invented the striking points of resem- 
blance between this work and the Pharaonic buildings. 
But even supposing, witli Xiebuhr, tliat it is altogether a 
fiction, still it would be quite tis extraordinarv that Etruscan 
fiction should give such an Egyptian cast to its imaginary 
buildings, as that Etruscan art should aifect the pyramidal 
forms, and make a labyrinth part of a public monument. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 191 

" Porsenna," says Varro, " is buried under the city of 
Clusium, in which place he left a monument of squared 
stone (lapide quadrato), each side three hundred feet wide 
and fifty high. On this square base, within, is an inex- 
tricable labyrinth, from which, if any one should hastily 
enter without the clue, he could not find his way out. 
Above that square stand five pyramids — four in the cor- 
ners, one in the middle — seventy-five feet wide at the base, 
one hundred and fifty high ; so pointed, that on the top of 
each a brazen circle and cupola is placed, from which bells 
are suspended by chains, which, agitated by the wind, are 
heard at a great distance, as was formerly the case at 
Dodona :" the resemblance to the Pelasgian Dodona is 
worth remarking ; — " above which circle were four pyra- 
mids, each a hundred feet high ; above which, on one floor, 
are five pyramids," the height of which Varro was ashamed 
to add. " The Etruscan traditions say that it was equal to 
all the rest of the structure : so insane was the infatuation 
of seeking glory, which could produce no advantage. — 
Moreover, the wealth of the country was exhausted to add 
to the fame of the architect" (Quarterly Review, p. 442). 

On these coincidences in the style of building, and on 
the other analogies described above, Micali grounds his 
theory of the Egyptian origin of the Tuscan civilization. 
But against this hypothesis it is forcibly objected (Review, 
p. 446), that in the religion of the Etruscans, excepting 
Mantus and Amenti, there is, after all, rather a general 
resemblance to the great Oriental systems, than to that 
which is purely and exclusively Egyptian. Signer Micali 
himself admits other foreign influences ; and monuments 
of Phoenician and other eastern superstitions appear inter- 
mingled with those of an Egyptian character. In the 



192 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

religion itself, as far as it can be traced, there is the Orien- 
tal Pantheism, Dualism, Tina, the Cupra or the Juno; 
the Minerva, the Neith of Egypt, and the Athena of 
Greece; the Sethlans, the Vulcan, or the Pthah; still 
there is nothing which indicates a peculiar Relationship to 
Egypt rather than to any other part of the East. M. 
Micali himself seems to admit, that the Cabiric worship of 
Dionysius, or Bacchus, with its peculiar symbols, of which 
there appear in his engravings very curious and very early 
monuments, may have been introduced from Samothrace. 
In fact, our author rather shrinks from the strong and deci- 
sive tone with which he had announced his hypothesis in 
the first volume, when he enters into a more complete 
examination of the Etruscan religion in the second. It 
cannot be doubted, (says he,) that the Egyptian religion 
predominated over all the others, as far as relates to the rites 
of sepulture, the most important of all, considering that it 
gave to man a more distinct confidence that he was passing 
to a better haven. Cinerary vases in the Canopic form, 
little statues, amulets, scarabei, and a great many other 
principal symbols of Egyptian superstition discovered in 
the sepulchres, are an undoubted proof of the great zeal 
displayed by the Etruscans in imitating in their family 
tombs the very forms of the Egyptians, with whom they 
had for a long time commercial relations and constant 
intercourse. And, in truth, it is not surprising if so many 
things in our country, in her earliest ages, as well religious 
as civil, are shown, on the authority of facts, to resemble 
so much the Egyptian, since, at that time, oiu and the same 
system of ideas was riding and dominant among all civilized 
peoples. (Vol. ii. p. 121.) This is a very different view 
from that of the direct Egyptian descent of the sacerdotal 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 193 

caste. The question is, whether the extensive commercial 
connexions of the old Etrurians will not of themselves 
account for the introduction of all these vestiges of foreign 
superstitions; whether ancient Etruria, in her high time 
of wealth and luxury, like republican and imperial Rome, 
may not have imported largely the superstitions as well as 
the other merchandize of Egypt. If the connexion had 
been that of regular lineal descent, we should certainly 
have expected a more close and striking resemblance to 
the Egyptian mythology; the deities in their forms and 
attributes would have been more manifestly the same with 
those on the shores of the Nile ; the sacerdotal caste would 
have transplanted and enshrined its whole Pantheon in the 
newly-colonized region. The total difference of the names 
of the deities is a very strong argument against their iden- 
tity : we find an Amenti, indeed ; but to Pthah, Thoth, 
Amun, Oseirei, and the whole host of Egyptian deities, we 
find no resemblance in the Etruscan names of the gods. 
The attributes are equally wanting ; the heads of the 
hawks, the jackals, the monkeys, which distinguish the 
Hor, the Anubi, and other Nilotic divinities. In short, 
the ceremonial of the dead alone bears the religious impress 
of Egypt. Id. p. 446. 

The Etruscan language stands alone, a problem and a 
mystery, not merely allied to none of the older dialects of 
Italy, but bearing no resemblance to any tongue with 
which it has yet been compared. The barren result of 
Otfried Muller's learned excursus, leaves us with little 
more than a certain number of proper names, one or two 
conjectural grammatical forms, and a probable sign of the 
patronymic. Niebuhr has said, that the whole of oui: 
knowledge may be summed up in two words, avil ril, which 

o 



194 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

certainly mean vix-it annos ; but it is not quite clear which 
word is the verb, and which the noun. We are not aware 
whether the advocates of the Egyptian origin of the Tuscan 
civilization have instituted any comparison between the 
Etrurian and the ancient Egyptian, as far ats it may be 
obscurely traced in the modern Coptic. There is certainly 
some slight similarity between the Etrurian words, which 
seem to consist almost entirely of consonants, and from 
which we may fairly suppose, that the shorter vowels were 
omitted in writing as in the Semitic languages, and in the 
Egyptian, as made out by the interpreters of hieroglyphics. 
Many of the latter are, in like manner, composed almost 
entirely of consonants, to which it would be difficult for the 
most flexible organs to give any sound without supplying 
the intermediate vowels. The only conclusion at which 
we can arrive is, either that the Tuscan belonged to the 
Semitic class of languages, and migrated from the East in 
some unknown line, or that it is, like the Basque, the soli- 
tary representative of some earlier stream of population, 
which flowed over Europe from the great Eastern cradle of 
humankind. Id. p. 433. 

What then was the home of this mysterious race, so 
decidedly Eastern in its general character, yet repelling 
any nearer approach to the place of its birth ? Whoever 
reflects upon Niebuhr's first theory of the Tuscan origin of 
Rome, and on Micali's theory of the Egyptian origin of 
the Tuscan civilization, will hesitate before he totally 
rejects the following statement, which is drawn from an 
entirely different source ; it is a department of literature, 
which was perhaps never before applied to illustrate the 
antiquities of Rome. 

Rabbinical account. — Esau's descendants (says Mr. Allen 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 195 

in his Modern Judaism) are the subjects of extensive tra- 
ditions, in which the Rabbies, with an eflfrontery at which 
we should wonder in any other men, have set at defiance 
all authentic history and accurate chronology. These 
representations, the fallacy of which will be too obvious to 
require being pointed out, may be briefly comprised under 
the following heads. 

First: — That the descendants of Esau, the sworn ene- 
mies of the descendants of Jacob even to the end of the 
world, were at first a small nation, inhabiting Mount Seir 
and the adjacent country, contiguous to the land of Canaan: 
— that they were easily confined within their own limits, 
as long as the Israelites enjoyed a great and formidable 
empire in Canaan ; but, that after the powerful republic of 
the twelve tribes was destroyed by the Assyrians and 
Babylonians, they wonderfully increased in numbers and 
strength, extended their dominion towards the West, 
spread their colonies far and wide, subjugated Italy, founded 
Rome and the Roman empire, at length entirely over- 
turned the Jewish state which had been restored after the 
termination of the Babylonian captivity, the second temple 
being destroyed by Titus Vespasian ; and that in the pre- 
sent day, professing the religion of Jesus of Nazareth, 
which they were the first of all nations to embrace, they 
hold the dominion over all Europe, Esau detaining in 
captivity his brother Jacob, at least as far as regards the 
tribe of Judah, till his Messiah Ben David shall appear. 

Secondly : — That the prophecies of the prophets against 
Esau, Edom, Seir, and the cities of Edom, especially those 
of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Obadiah, have not yet received 
their full accomplishment : for that, though the house of 
Esau has experienced some particular judgments of God, 

o2 



196 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

on account of the injuries at different periods of time 
inflicted upon Israel; yet the final vengeance on account 
of that last and greatest injury, the destruction of the 
second temple by Titus, and the transportation of the 
Jews into captivity, in which they are still most oppro- 
briously detained, is yet impending over it, to be executed 
in the time of the Messiah ; that this is foretold by the 
prophets in all their denunciations of the severest plagues 
against the house of Esau, the cities of Edom, and Mount 
Seir, which all belong to Rome and the Christians ; and 
that the fate of Christians at that time will be far more 
dreadful than that of Mahometans. Abarbanel particularly 
says : " The slaughter of the Turks in the future battle, 
will not be so great as that of the Christians ; for many of 
the Turks will escape," according to Isaiah Ixvi. 19; but 
of the Christians, Obadiah says : " There shall not be any 
remaining of the house of Esau ^" 

Another author, noticing these same opinions of the 
Jews, expresses his sentiments in equally strong, but more 
measured terms : — 

" The singular tradition among the Jews, which has 
been connected with Edom, is, (says Sharon Turner,) that 
when the twelve tribes were destroyed by the Assyrians 
and Babylonians, the Edomites increased greatly in num- 
bers and strength, extended their dominions toward the 
West, and spread their colonies far and wide. This was 
most probably the fact, and so far the Jewish Rabbins may 
be right in their memorial history. But when they add, 
that the Romans were one of their colonies, and that a 
descendant of Esau founded the city on the Tibur, and 

2 Allen's Modern Judaism, p. 231. Second edit. 1830. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 197 

that their final conqueror Titus was one of his posterity, by 
whom their nation and temple were subverted, we are 
startled by assertions, which nothing else confirms; and 
wonder how such a notion became a part of the learned 
mind of the public teachers of the nation. This derivation 
has not only been the belief of eminent Rabbins ; but they 
add to it an expectation, that the full accomplishment of 
the final prophecies against Edom will yet be effected in 
the destruction of Rome, and of the Christian state which 
has issued from it." 

To this passage is appended the following note, affording 
the necessary authorities for such an extraordinary state- 
ment : — That Tyre was the caput filiorum Esau, and that 
the Idumeans were Romans, is the assertion of Rabbi 
Solomon ; and Bartolocci, quoting this, adds, that it is the 
sententia communis among the Jews. (Bibl. Rab. i. p. 547.) 
Rabbi Solomon's gloss on Numb. xxiv. 18, 19, says, 
" Edom, that is Roma." So in Lament, iv. 22. The 
Targum, in some Venetian editions, to " He will visit 
thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom," adds, "impious 
Rome." Hence R. Kimchi says, " Whatever the pro- 
phets mention of the destruction of Edom in the latter 
times, the Jews understand and explain of Rome." Kimchi, 
in Obadiah. He says, " Though we are dispersed and sub- 
jected to the Ismaelite power (the Arabian Saracens), yet 
our principal captivity may be considered as under Edom 
(meaning the Roman Empire), because that has driven 
us away, and laid waste our sanctuary." They write, that 
Titus Vespasian sprang from the lineage of Esau. Hence 
the Messech Gittin, c. v., calls him the descendant of Esau. 
And because Rome afterwards became Christian, they now 
apply the term also to its Christian dominions. The tale 



198 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

or tradition in their Gorion Chronicle, and other ancient 
books, is, that Tzepho, a grandson of Esau, contended 
with Jacob's sons about his burial till it came to warfare ; 
that Tzepho was taken prisoner by Joseph, and kept in 
the dungeons of Egypt while the viceroy live^, but on his 
death escaped from that country, and settled in Campania, 
in Italy, and raised a kingdom there, and was the real 
first king of Rome. (Buxtorf s Lex. Chald. p. 30 ^ ) 

The summary of these Rabbinical statements is, that a 
people speaking a Semitic idiom, came by sea and landed 
on the South West Coast of Italy ; that they became 
powerful there, and proceeding northward, took possession 
of Rome, which first attained to greatness under their 
dominion. It is impossible not to be struck with the close 
coincidence of this statement with the native Roman 
accounts, that the dominion of the Tuscans commenced at 
Tarquinii; that, proceeding from thence northwards, they 
established themselves firmly beyond the Apennines ; that 
Rome fell into their hands, and under Tarquin became 
more famous and powerful than it had ever been before. 
"What has made the name of the first Tarquin ever 
memorable is, (says Niebuhr,) that with him begins the 
greatness and splendour of the city. His works, and the 
building of the Capitoline temple, declare with an irre- 
sistible voice, that Rome, mider her later kings, was the 
capital of a great state." (Vol. i. p. 355. 390.) 

Tarquinii, a city of South Etruria, and situated on the 
sea-coast, was always considered by the Tuscans themselves 
as the head of its twelve cities, and the source of their poli- 
tical institutions and religious ceremonies; whereby, says 

3 Turner's Sacred History of the World, vol. ii. p. 52o. 



PROPilETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 199 

Muller (i. 72), is plainly expressed the opinion of the 
people that their forefathers had arrived by sea, and had 
not come from the north of Italy. 

The government, also, of the Edomites, corresponds in 
a most remarkable degree with that of the Tuscans. In 
Gen. xxxvi. there is mention made of eleven dukes of the 
Edomites, with a king at their head. At the time of Moses, 
says Jahn, their eighth king was on the throne : eleven 
princes were subordinate to him, so that the king was no 
more than the chief of twelve princes (Hebr. Com. b. ii. 
sect. 10). The government of the Edomites, says Rosen- 
muller, was an elective monarchy, as is evident from the 
catalogue of the eight kings ; not one of whom was suc- 
ceeded by his own son (Schol. in Gen. xxxvi. 39). Among 
the prophetic denunciations against Edom, it is said, " As to 
her nobles, not one shall be there whom they might call 
to the kingdom; and all her princes shall utterly fail" 
(Isaiah xxxiv. 12). 

In Italy there were three distinct federal unions of the 
Tuscans; one in Campania, another in Etruria Proper, 
and a third beyond the Apennines. In each of these unions, 
there were twelve states with a lucumo or duke (in Tuscan, 
iauchme) at the head of each state : the twelve ducal fami- 
lies chose from among themselves a king ; the dignity was 
elective, and limited by a powerful aristocracy *. 

We possess no information concerning the religion of 
the Edomites, except that it was idolatrous : the gods of 
Edom are referred to in a general way (2 Chron. xxv. 14), 



* Muller, vol. i. p. 365. Ex duodecim populis communiter create rege, 
singulos singuli populi lictores dederint (Liv. i. 8). Lucumones in tota 
Tuscia duodecim fuisse manifestum est : ex quibus unus omnibus imperavit 
(Servius in ^n. viii. 475. x. 202). 



200 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

but I am not aware of a single instance in Scripture where 
an idol of Edom is mentioned by name. Josephus, how- 
ever, incidentally makes mention of an idol ' Coze' ( Antiq. 
XV. 7), and I think it supplies a link of connexion with the 
superstitions of Italy. Many of the Tuscan dties derived 
their names from the national deities. Mantua was so called 
from Mantus, the Pluto of the Etruscans ; and Cupra, from 
the Tuscan Juno, Cupra. Herculaneum derived its name 
from the more general deity, the Hamite Hercules. Now 
it is not at all impossible that the Tuscan city Cosa, or 
Cossse ^ may have derived its name from some deity akin 
to the Idumean Coze. Strabo thus notices the city in 
question : Next to Populonium comes the city Cossse, a 
little above a bay of the sea ; it is built on a lofty hill : 
below lies the port of Hercules (lib. v). Hercules appears 
to have been the universal patron saint of the Hamite 
sailors. Strabo mentions several ports dedicated to him: 
Alyzia, a city in Acarnania, and Cnossus, in Crete, had 
both of them harbours sacred to Hercules (lib. x). The 
ruins of Cosa bear the Tuscan mark of rectanofular stones : 
but the lower part of the wall, as much as might serve for 
a basement, is constructed in the polygonal style (Muller, 
i. p. 250. MicaH, Plate x). 

These curious coincidences in the domestic and external 
relations of the Edomites would seem to lead us to some 
definite conclusions concerning the Tuscans ; but, on this 
assumption, we should certainly have a right to expect that, 
if we ever became more nearly acquainted with the habits 
of this people, we should discover among them clear proofs 
of an acquaintance with general science and with architec- 

^ In Latin Cosa, in Greek Kofftrai. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 201 

ture in particular, for which the Tuscans were so remark- 
able. Thirty years back, our knowledge of Edom was 
absolutely nothing; but since that period, the labours of 
successive travellers have brought to light some interesting 
particulars. 

Petra. — The discovery of Petra, the capital of Idumea, 
by Burckhardt, and the illustration of the prophecies 
against Edom in consequence of that discovery, are well 
known to the public through the popular treatise of Dr. 
Keith ^ ; yet in a late Review of the translation of La- 
borde's Journey through Arabia Petrsea, the writer still 
speaks of that interesting city in terms of wonder and asto- 
nishment. He calls it " that wonderful city which Burck- 
hardt had discovered amongst the mountains of Edom — that 
monumental miracle which beyond all hope suddenly re- 
appeared, as it were, in the wilderness — a new ' vox cla- 
mantis in deserto,' to proclaim the literal and visible ful- 
filment of some of the Scripture prophecies, which had 
hitherto appeared the most obscure and incomprehen- 
sible V 

The capital of Idumea is thus described by the travellers 
quoted by Dr. Keith : — A narrow and circuitous defile, 
surrounded on each side by precipitous or perpendicular 
rocks, varying from 400 to 700 feet in altitude, and form- 
ing for two miles " a sort of subterranean passage," opens 
on the East the way to the ruins of Petra. The rocks, or 
rather hills, then diverge on either side, and leave an oblong 
space, where once stood the metropolis of Edom, deceived 



^ 1 quote from the fifteenth edition of his Evidence from Prophecy, 1837- 
' Quarterly Review, No. cxvii. for July, 1837- 



202 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

by its terribleness — where now lies a waste of ruins, encir- 
cled on every side, save on the north-east alone, by stupen- 
dous cliffs, which still show how the pride and labour of art 
tried there to vie with the sublimity of nature. Along the 
borders of these cliffs detached masses of roA, numerous 
and lofty, have been wrought into sepulchres, the interior 
of which is excavated into chambers, while the exterior has 
been cut from the live rock into the forms of towers, with 
pilasters, and successive bands of frieze and entablature, 
wings, recesses, figures of animals, and columns. Yet, 
numerous as they are, these form but a part of " the vast 
necropolis of Petra." " Tombs present themselves, not 
only in every avenue to the city, and upon every precipice 
that surrounds it, but even intermixed almost promiscuously 
with its public and domestic edifices ; the natural features of 
the defile grew more and more imposing at every step, and 
the excavations and sculpture more frequent on both sides, 
till it presented at last a continued street of tombs." The 
base of the cliffs wrought out into all the s}Tnmetry and 
regularity of art, with colonades and pedestals, and ranges 
of corridors, adhering to the perpendicular surface ; flights 
of steps chiselled out of the rock ; grottos in great numbers, 
" which are certainly not sepulchral ;" some excavated resi- 
dences of large dimensions, in one of which is a single 
chamber sixty feet in length, and of a breadth proportioned ; 
many other dwellings of inferior note, particularly abundant 
in one defile leading to the city, the steep sides of which 
contain a sort of excavated suburb, accessible by flights of 
steps; niches, sometimes thirty feet in excavated height, 
with altars for votive offerings, or with pyramids, columns, 
or obelisks ; a bridge across a chasm now apparently inac- 
cessible ; some small pyramids hewn out of the rock on the 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 203 

summit of the heights ; horizontal grooves for the convey- 
ance of water, cut in the face of the rock, and even across 
the architectural fronts of some of the excavations ; and, in 
short, the " rocks hollowed out into innumerable chambers 
of different dimensions, whose entrances are variously, 
richly, and often fantastically decorated with every imagin- 
able order of architecture," all united not only form one of 
the most singular scenes that the eye of man ever looked 
upon, or the imagination painted — a group of wonders per- 
haps unparalleled in their kind — but also give indubitable 
proof both that in the land of Edom there was a city where 
human ingenuity, and energy, and power, must have been 
exerted for many ages, and to so great a degree, as to have 
well entitled it to be noted for its strength or terribleness, 
and that the description given of it by the prophets of 
Israel was as strictly literal as the prediction respecting it 
is true (Keith, p. 192). 

With respect to the numerous sepulchral excavations in 
the rocks which enclose and protect the city. Dr. Keith 
remarks : — One engraving of M. Laborde is peculiarly 
striking, as indirectly exemplifying the unique character of 
the scenery, by which, at a glance, Petra is identified, and 
distinguished from any other city that ever existed. The 
design of the picture is to represent an isolated column; 
but the back ground exhibits to view " a part of the valley 
of Moses" (Ouadi Mousa), with the high rocks in the more 
distant perspective " pierced with thousands of excavations" 
(perces de milliers excavations), p. 199. But the same en- 
graving would serve equally well to illustrate the scenery 
of a Tuscan valley described by Micali : — That part of the 
valley of the river Marta, which is situate a little to the 
south-east of Toscanella, is a dell girt in by lofty rocks, in 



204 ON THE OKIGIN AND 

which are a very great number of excavations presenting 
one uniform appearance (in queste rupi stesse si veggono 
incavate grandissimo numero di grotte) ; they differ only in 
dimensions, and doubtless, collectively, constituted a single 
necropolis (vol. iii. p. 107). 

Of all the ruins of Petra, the mausoleums and sepulchres 
are among the most remarkable, and they give the clearest 
indication of ancient and long continued royalt}^, and of 
courtly grandeur. Their immense number corroborates 
the accounts given of their successive kings and princes by 
Moses and Strabo, though a period of eighteen hundred 
years intervened between the dates of their respective 
records concerning them (Keith, p. 194). Of these mau- 
soleums, the Khasne, or, as the natives call it, the treasury 
of Pharaoh, is one of the most important ; and may well be 
compared, for the labour bestowed upon it, with the tomb 
of Porsenna at Clusium. The natives pretend that it was 
the residence of a prince ; but, says Burckhardt (p. 425), 
" it was rather the sepulchre of a prince, and great must 
have been the opulence of a city which could dedicate 
such monuments to the memory of its rulers." 

For a particular description of this immense bas-relief sculp- 
tured out of the mountain, I must refer to the original au- 
thors; but will make a remark on the style of architecture. The 
pillars are all of the Corinthian order ; " the half-pediments, 
which terminate the wings of the building, are finished at 
the top with eagles, which, combined with a style of archi- 
tecture differing little from the Roman, can leave no doubt 
that this great effort of art is posterior to the time of Tra- 
jan's conquest" (Irby and Mangles). There can be no 
doubt, says the Reviewer before mentioned, that these gen- 
tlemen are right in their idea that this work is of the time 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 205 

of Trajan, or later. The style is even more florid than any- 
thing we know of that day ; but if that be so, a majority of 
these sculptured mountains must be equally modern : for 
the same style may be said to run through all (Quarterly 
Review, No. cxvii. p. 119). As a matter of course, some 
of these monuments must be of a more recent date than 
others ; yet I cannot believe that the Roman style was first 
introduced into Edom at the time of Trajan's conquest : it 
would certainly be much nearer the truth to say, that the 
Edomites had taught the science of architecture to the 
Corinthians and Romans many ages previously; for, 
according to the Roman legend, the father of the Tuscan 
Tarquin came from Corinth : and according to the Rabbis, 
the Tuscans themselves were a colony from Edom. 

Of the tombs hitherto discovered, it is natural that the 
greater number should consist of those, which offer to the 
traveller's notice a splendid facade in the front of the rock ; 
from the dangers of the place, it was quite impossible to 
think for a moment of making excavations for the purposes 
of farther discovery ; yet one instance occurs of a sepulchral 
cave internally ornamented like those so often found in 
Tuscany. The discovery was made in consequence of the 
dilapidations caused by time, which drew the attention of 
the traveller, and afforded admission through some broken 
and irregular openings : " Without an)'^ thing to indicate 
it, except some irregular and broken openings, we found a 
tomb, the interior of which is calculated to excite attention, 
because it is unique in the valley, where, as I have already 
remarked, the monuments in general, however rich exter- 
nally, present nothing in the interior except coarsely chi- 
selled walls. It is unnecessary for me here to explain the 
merit of the architectural details of this excavation ; the 



206 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

drawing gives a sufficiently exact idea of them to render 
every other description superfluous." (Laborde, p. 188.) 
With this engraving of " The interior of a tomb," given 
also in Keith, should be compared the sixty- fojirth plate of 
Micali, which represents two sepulchres of Tarquinia ex- 
cavated in the tufa rock ; they are in the same style as the 
Idumean, but much more highly ornamented. Micali, iii. 
p. 108. 

It appears that the Edomites, as well as the Tuscans, 
had their histriones and theatres ; the excavation that most 
excited our attention, (says Laborde,) was a vast theatre 
in the bosom of the mountain, surmounted, and, in some 
degree, sheltered by the rocks. To scoop out a theatre in 
the side of a mountain, seems to be an enterprise of infinite 
labour ; but to form it thus from a rocky substance, is an 
enterprise still more astonishing (p. 162). There is a 
similar excavation at Sutrium, which Micali attributes, 
erroneously I think, not to the Tuscans, but to the later 
Romans : " The amphitheatre at Sutrium is not of Tuscan, 
but Roman workmanship ; it presents however a wonderful 
sight ; all excavated, as it is, out of the solid rock." Vol. i. 
p. 152. 

That the primeval Edomites were a highly civilized 
and commercial people, appears from the following autho- 
rities which have been collected by Dr. Keith : " Petra," 
to use the words of Dr. Vincent, by whom the state of its 
ancient commerce was described before its ruins were 
discovered, " is the capital of Edom or Seir, the Idumea or 
Arabia Petrea of the Greeks, the Nabatea, considered both 
by geographers, historians, and poets, as the source of all 
the precious commodities of the East." The caravans, in 
all ages, from Minea, in the interior of Arabia, and from 

12 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 207 

Gerrha, on the gulf of Persia, from Hadramaut on the 
ocean, and some even from Sabea or Yemen, appear to 
have pointed to Petra as a common centre; and from 
Petra the trade seems again to have branched out into 
every direction, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through 
Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and a variety 
of subordinate routes, that all terminated on the Mediterra- 
nean. There is every proof that is requisite to show, that 
the Tyrians and Sidonians were the first merchants who 
introduced the produce of India to all the nations which 
encircled the Mediterranean ; so there is the strongest 
evidence to prove, that the Tyrians obtained all their com- 
modities from Arabia. But if Arabia was the centre of 
this commerce, Petra was the point to which all the Ara- 
bians tended from the three sides of their vast peninsula 
(p. 172). While splendid remains of ancient art give un- 
doubted proof, that wisdom and understanding subsisted in 
the Mount of Esau after the age of the prophets, the first 
of modern philosophers '' thus speaks of the wisdom of the 
Edomites in the earliest ages : " The Egyptians having 
learned the skill of the Edomites ^ began now to observe 
the position of the stars, and the length of the solar year, 
for enabling them to know the position of the stars at any 
time, and to sail by them at all times without sight of the 
shore ; and this gave a beginning to astronomy and naviga- 
tion." — " It seems that letters, and astronomy, and the 
trade of carpenters, were invented by the merchants of 



' Sir Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms. 

* These Edomites were certainly Cushites ; and the circumstance points 
to the highly important fact of a very early intercourse hetween the Cushites 
and Edomites, as in the case of Tirhakah at a later period. Compare 
Quart. Review, vol. xliii. p. 124. ff. ; and above, Part HI. ch. I. 



208 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

the Red Sea, and that they were propagated from Arabia 
Petrsea into Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Asia Minor, and 
Europe" (p. 205). 

The Tuscans, as already mentioned, were a naval and 
commercial people, who commanded the navigation of the 
Mediterranean; concerning the Edomites, we have no 
such direct testimony, but there is incidental evidence 
from which we may infer their naval character. " King 
Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion Geber, which is 
beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of 
Edom; and they came to Ophir." (1 Kings, ix. 26.) 
This communication with the remoter East through the 
Red Sea, was not primarily due to the enterprising spirit 
of Solomon ; the trade with Eastern India, which fell into 
his hands after the reduction of Edom by his predecessor 
David, and which so enriched Jerusalem, had been pre- 
viously concentrated in Edom during its flourishing period, 
and contributed to the greatness of Petra, whose wonderful 
ruins have lately been discovered. 

Tirhakah. — In classical authors there is no direct tes- 
timony to the Edomitish navigation westward ; but there is 
reason to think, that the great conqueror Taracos or Tear- 
con was connected with this people. According to Jahn, 
" Tirhakah, Taracos or Tearcon, king of Cush, was one of 
the greatest heroes of antiquity ; he not only ruled over 
the Arabian, and African or ^Ethiopian Cush, but also over 
Egypt, and is said to have pushed his conquests as far as 
the pillars of Hercules. Strabo states, that Sesostris, king 
of Egypt, and Tearcon (Taracos, Tirhakah), king of the 
Ethiopians, extended their expeditions as far as Europe ; 
but Nebuchadnezzar, who is venerated by the Chaldaeaus, 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 209 

even more than Hercules is by the Greeks, went not only 
to the pillars of Hercules (for so far, according to Megas- 
thenes, had Tearcon penetrated), but marched through 
Spain to Thrace and Pontus." (Hebr. Com. vol. i. 
p. 145. 165.) 

It was this great conqueror Tirhakah, who alarmed 
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, at the siege of Jerusalem. 
In the dynasties of Manetho preserved by Eusebius, he is 
called Taracos; and from the account of Megasthenes, 
preserved in Strabo (lib. xv.), where he is called Tearcon, it 
is evident that he had acquired great warlike fame ( Rosen- 
muller in Isaiah xxxvii. 9). 

Tarak, or Taraco, was found by Mr. Salt on more than 
one monument in Nubia and Egypt, as well as by Cham- 
pollion in the European collections. Tarak, or Taraco, is 
without doubt the Tirhakah, the Ethiopian, who came out 
to fight against Sennacherib (Quart. Review, vol. xliii. 
p. 154). 

The twenty-fifth or .^thiopic dynasty of the kings of 
Egypt, according to Manetho, is thus given by Jahn at the 
end of his Hebrew Commonwealth ; I have added the 
dates B.C. 

Sabbacon reigned 12 years 732 — 720 

Sevechus (2 Kings xvii. 4.) 14 .... 720—706 

Tarachus (2 Kings xix. 90 • 20 .... 706—686 

The Arabian Cush, in its original and limited sense, lay 
to the South-east of the Dead Sea ; but it is evident, that 
Edom must have formed a part of the extensive kingdom 
of Tirhakah ; he carried his conquests to the extremities of 
the Mediterranean, and was contemporary with Sennacherib 
about 700 B.C. Now Tarchon, who gave his name to Tar- 

p 



210 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

quinii, was the hero placed at the head of the Tuscan tra- 
ditions ; he was the founder of the twelve states in Etruria 
Proper, and also of those in the valley of the Po ; the 
whole Etruscan confederacy is referred to hip (MuUer, i. 
73). But Tarchon, which is only the Latin form of the 
name of this hero, was written Tarchu in the original Tus- 
can orthography (tarchu nelle iscrizioni, giusta la forma 
primitiva, Micali, vol. i. p. 116); and this approaches 
sufficiently near to the other forms, Tarachus, Tirhakah, 
&c., to lead us to suppose, that the Tuscan Tarchon was in 
some way connected with the Cushite Tirhakah, and that 
the Tuscans preserved some indistinct recollection of the 
event. " I suspect," says Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 377, " that 
there was a connexion between the Roman legend of Tar- 
quin, the assumed supreme head of all Etruria, and the 
Etruscan one of the conqueror Tarchon, the founder of 
Tarquinii." Certainly, the difference between the com- 
monly received dates of the Eastern Tearcon, and the 
Italian Tarquin, is not so great as to render this impossible, 
particularly when we remember, that the Roman antiqua- 
rians themselves differed by six Olympiads on the era of 
the foundation of Rome ; to say nothing of Ennius, who 
antedates it by more than a century (Niebuhr, vol. i. 
p. 264, ff. see also his account of Tarquin). Tearcon 
reigned 706 — 686; and, according to our histories, the 
father of Tarquin was driven out of Corinth and settled at 
Tarquinii, 660 b.c. This, too, is just the period pointed 
out by the Rabbis for the Edomitish colonies spreading 
westward : the power of Edom increased, as that of Israel 
declined, in consequence of the two captivities in 720 and 
606, B.C. 

If the Cushites of Tirhakah, who must have come by 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 211 

sea, and have spoken a barbarous tongue, did actually make 
a settlement at Tarquinii, this circumstance would fully 
account for the very singular fact, that Negro or Ethiopian 
figures occur among the paintings in Tuscan sepulchres. 
In a passage already quoted, relating to the tombs at 
Tarquinii, the acknowledged city of Tarchu, Sir W. Gell 
states : " In the outline of the face, the men represented 
in these tombs, bear a strong resemblance to the Negro, 
or to the Ethiopian figures of Egyptian paintings." (Com- 
pare Micali, plate 90.) We find, in Polybius, vestiges of 
an obsolete tradition, that a race of black men lived on the 
banks of the Eridanus : " There is no need to add to our 
description of this river the many sad and tragical fables 
with which the Greeks have filled their histories ; of the 
fall of Phaeton ; the tears of the Poplars ; and that race of 
black men who live upon the river, and are said still to 
wear the habit of mourning in memory of Phaeton's death." 
(Hampton's Polybius, b. ii. ch. ii.) In the next chapter 
I have attempted to determine the locality of the river 
Eridanus; in the above passage, Polybius seems to place 
it in Ethiopia, and Ovid (Met. ii. 236) connects the colour 
of the Ethiopians with the fall of Phaeton into the Erida- 
nus. The following Idumean legend, which Laborde 
heard from Arabs on the spot, is connected with this sub- 
ject : — " The tradition, the origin of which it would be 
interesting to discover, prevailing amongst the Arabs con- 
cerning these reservoirs (near to Ameime in Idumea), is to 
this effect. In former times, the king of the negroes came 
to ravage this country with innumerable troops. He had 
already, it was said, driven before him the whole of the 
inhabitants, when, having arrived in the plain of Ameime, 
he wished to quench his thirst in these cisterns ; bending 

p2 



•212 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

down to the surface of the water, after the manner of the 
Arabs, he fell in. One of his guards, who ran to assist 
him, fell in also ; and another, endeavouring to rescue the 
latter, met with the same fate. Thus the wh(z^e army was 
swallowed up, and the rock received the name of Macbert 
el Abid. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the cistern 
would not contain a hundred persons ; but traditions, espe- 
cially those of the southern countries, do not attend very 
strictly to the rules of probability" (p. 209). 

It appears to me that a slight trace of Tirhakah's con- 
nexion with Italy may be found in Scripture. Commenta- 
tors unanimously agree in stating that the eighteenth 
chapter of Isaiah is one of the most obscure portions of 
prophecy ; but they refer it, in a primary sense at least, to 
the destruction of Sennacherib's army : in the last verse of 
chapter xvii. the Assyrian is all but mentioned by name. 
Rosenmuller considers that the passage xvii. 12. — xviii. 7. 
forms one complete and distinct section, of which the argu- 
ment is " the defeat of Sennacherib, and Tirhakah's embas- 
sies to the remotest nations to announce the event." The 
nation to which Tirhakah sends the messengers, and which 
is so particularly described by the prophet, Rosenmuller 
places in the interior of Africa ; I suspect it was situate in 
Italy, for reasons which have already appeared. We learn 
from Megasthenes, in Strabo, that Tarachus, or Tearcon, 
penetrated as far as the pillars of Hercules ; and we hear 
tidings of Tirhakah in Italy (Chittim) under the name of 
Tarchu, or Tarchon; also in Spain (Tarshish), the ancient 
capital Tarraco is called a Tyrrhenian city, Tyrrhenica 
Tarraco. The account of the nation to whom the messen- 
gers are sent is, in RosenmuUer's translation, an exact and 
graphic description of the old Tyrrhenians in Italy. " Ite 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 213 

riuncii celeres ad gen tern inaccessam et asperam, ad popu- 

lum formidabilem cujus terrain fluvii inundant." 

With this description compare Muller's account of the 
Tyrrhenians : The earlier Greeks were accustomed to build 
their cities at some distance from the coast, through a dread 
of the Tyrrhenian piracies; but the Tyrrhenians always 
settled on lofty promontories, from which they could com- 
mand a view of the sea over which they ruled : how harshly 
they treated their captives till a ransom was paid, we per- 
ceive from the Attic proverb " Tyrrhenian bonds" (vol. i. 
p. 83). The country in question was a land of rivers; and 
whether with Rosenmuller we translate " which rivers inun- 
date," or render it according to Bishop Lowth, " which rivers 
nourish," the description is equally applicable to the Tyr- 
rhenian territory, which was Trorajuoxwo-rocj or artificially 
inundated for the purpose of enriching the soil. In the 
more complete and important sense, Bishop Horsley and 
Mr. Faber apply the last verse of chapter xviii. to the 
future restoration of the Jews by a maritime protestant 
nation ; and they evidently incline towards England ; but 
I shall not look farther than Italy, even for the later and 
more important fulfilment of the prophecy ; for the Rabbis 
themselves state that their nation will ultimately return to 
Canaan in a Venetian fleet. " The daughter of Tyre shall 
be there with a gift" (Psalm xlv. 12). That Venice was 
the daughter of Tyre, see below, section Tyrrheni. 

It seems to have been a common idea both among the 
ancients and moderns, that the Tuscans were a powerful 
nation long before the Romans, and previously to the 
period of the Tarquins ^^ : to speak correctly, however, the 

^o Thuscorum, ante Romanum iraperium, late terra marique opes patuere 
(Liv. V. 33). 



214 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

name of that early people was Tyrrhenians; — their history 
will be given farther on. 

Corinth, — Near the south-western point of the neck that 
joins Peloponnesus to northern Greece, and within the 
same rich plain in which Sicyon stands, a mountain-ridge, 
scarcely three miles long, rises to a height remarkable even 
in a country of lofty mountains. The summit is at the 
northern extremity : three sides are precipices almost per- 
pendicular; and, even on the fourth, ascent is diflBcult. 
Little beneath the pointed vertex is a plentiful source of 
pm'e water, which, so situated, might help the poets to the 
fancy that there the winged horse Pegasus, drinking, was 
caught by Bellerophon. This most advantageous, and 
nearly inexpugnable post, by the name of Acrocorinthus, 
became the citadel ; and at its foot grew the town of 
Corinth, which, as early as Homer's time, was noted for 
wealth acquired by commerce. For, by land it was the key 
of communication between northern and southern Greece ; 
and by sea it became, through its ports — one on the Saro- 
nic, the other on the Corinthian gulf — the emporium for all 
that passed between the East and the West, as far as Asia 
on one side, and Italy and Sicily on the other. Bellerophon, 
one of its early princes, acquired by marriage the kingdom 
of Lycia in Asia (Mitford's Greece, ch. i.). 

From this description it is evident that Corinth was one 
of the most influential rock fortresses in the possession of 
the Hamites; and we should accordingly expect it to 
occupy an important place in their history. The fact that 
one of its early princes acquired the kingdom of the Soly- 
mean Lycians, points to an ancient connexion between the 
Corinthians, Lycians, and Italians; and gives a colouring 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 215 

of probability to the later story that a nobleman of Corinth 
acquired by marriage the kingdom of Rome. Anticlides, 
in Strabo (lib. v.), says, that some Pelasgians of Lemnos 
and Imbrus joined the Tyrrhenians in their way to Italy : 
it is equally probable that Corinth was one of the places 
which Tearcon or his captains visited on the voyage from 
the East ; and that a Corinthian noble of the old Hamite 
race, upon the victory of the democratical party, seized the 
opportunity of escape which was afforded by these eastern 
navigators. 

As to Corinth being called the home of Demaratus, a 
hint for explaining this might perhaps be derived, says 
Niebuhr, from the resemblance between the earthen vases 
of Tarquinii and of Corinth, which leads us to infer that 
there was some peculiar intercourse between these two 
maritime cities; and perhaps some Corinthian of the same 
name did actually at one time or other reside in Etruria, 
and gain celebrity (vol. i. p. 369). In the Roman polity 
established by Servius Tullius, the Mastarna of the Tus- 
cans, the horses of the knights were maintained at the 
expense of the viduse, heiresses and widows, just as in 
Corinth (Cicero de Rep. ii. 20) ; this is certainly, says 
Muller, a very remarkable coincidence (vol. i. p. 380). 

According to, one account, the adventurers who settled 
in Italy were Mysians under Tarchon and Tyrrhenus, sons 
of Telephus, their king ; so that here Tarchon comes direct 
from Mysia to Italy. In the story of Demaratus, Tarquin's 
father was a Corinthian noble, who, arriving in Italy with 
a princely fortune and retinue, married into the ducal 
family at Tarquinii ; consequently his son Tarquin, a na- 
tive born Tuscan, inherited the dignity of Lucumo or Duke 
of Tarquinii; but he was elected king of the Etruscan 



216 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

Union, whose capital was then at Rome. Although Niebuhr 
argues that Tarquinius Priscus was not a Tuscan, but a 
Priscan Latin, as the name implies ; yet he allows that the 
ordinary account of Tarquinius Priscus, like the Tuscan 
representation of Servius Tullius under the native name of 
Mastarna, clearl)^ implies the notion that there was a time 
when Rome received Tuscan institutions from a prince of 
Etruria, and was the great and splendid capital of a power- 
ful Etruscan state (vol. i. p. 378). 

Titus. — In Rabbinical phrase, the real first king of Rome 
was an Edomite, or, in more ordinary language, Tarquinius 
Priscus was a Tuscan. I proceed to show, in accordance 
with Jewish tradition, and apparently in opposition to our 
received histories, that Titus also, the conqueror of the 
Jews, was a Tuscan. 

What information the Rabbis possessed concerning the 
Edomitish extraction of Titus, I cannot take upon me to 
say ; but we are told by Suetonius that his great-grand- 
father, the oldest known member of the family, was called 
Titus Flavins Petro; and we learn from Muller that each 
of these names has been discovered separately among the 
ancient inscriptions in Tuscan sepulchres, and tliat the 
Tuscan form was TITE PHLAFE PETRU" (Appen- 

11 This Petru and the city Petra may possibly be derived from the 
same Cushite root; thus Pompeii is connected with the Tuscan name 
Pumpu. Compare Tarchu, Tarquinii, with Petru, Petrinum in [taly, and 
the Petrini in Sicily. There wasa deme or ward of Petra in Hamite Corinth, 
when Demaratus, the reputed father of Tarquin, fled to Italy (Herod. 
V. 92] . The Italian Petrinum, and Idumean Petra, are more likely to be 
related to some Hamite name, e. g. the Petrus (Pathros), Petrusim of Scrip- 
ture, than to the Greek Petra, a rock. I may add here that Napata (El Ber- 
kel), the Ethiopian capital of Tirhakah, bears a striking resemblance to the 
Etruscan town Nepete : and that a son of Tarquin was named Titus. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 217 

dix to Book II. p. 419. 424). The commonly received 
account concerning Vespasian, the first of the family who 
raised himself from obscurity, is that his grandfather was a 
Reatine of low degree ; but after his accession to the em- 
pire, says Suetonius, the genealogists, to his great amuse- 
ment, accommodated him with a pedigree in deducing his 
family from Flavins, the founder of Reate, and one of the 
companions of Hercules (Sueton. in Vespasian, c. xii.). 
The ancient ruins of the Reatine district are all in the 
polygonal, not in ihe rectangular, style of building (Micali, 
i. p. 207) ; so that this fabulous genealogy of the times of 
Hercules would make Vespasian a Hamite of Pelasgian, 
and not of Tuscan, descent ; but the ordinary report, that 
Titus Flavius Petro was a Reatine, evidently meant to 
represent him as a Sabine of Japhite origin ; which opinion 
is sufficiently refuted by the evidence of the name itself. 
Suetonius, however, has preserved another account (c. i.), 
though he gave it but little credit; which carries us at once 
upon Tuscan ground. I must not, says he, withhold the 
statement, though I have not been able to authenticate it, 
that Petro's father came from the Transpadane district, and 
engaged in contracts for farming out the agricultural labour- 
ers, who annually swarmed from Umbria into the land of the 
Sabines ; and that, in consequence of this employment, he 
settled in the Reatine district, and married there. The 
Transpadane region formed a part of the northern Tuscan 
union, which stretched along the valley of the Po ; accord- 
ing to one tradition, Mantua, on the Transpadane side, was 
founded from Perusia, in the sepulchres of which occur the 
names of Titus and Petro (Muller, vol. i. p. 137. 424). 

" Primus Idumseas referam tibi, lAIantua, palmas.''— Georg. iii. 12. 



218 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

Tyrrheni. — Besides Edom, Tyre and Philistia bear an 
important part in the concerns of Italy, not only in past 
history, but for times to come. Isaiah, foretelling the de- 
struction of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, says (xxiii. 12), 
" Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, 
daughter of Sidon : arise, pass over to Chittim, there also 
shalt thou have no rest." And the Rabbis apply all the 
prophecies concerning Tyre and Philistia to Venice, as we 
have seen that they do those concerning Edom to Rome. 
To meet this view on the side of classical history, we may 
connect the Tyrrheni with the people of Tyre, and the 
Philistina Fossa with the Philistines. 

From the paronomasia used by the prophet Zechariah, 
" Tyre did build herself a strong toioer'^ (ix. 3), "illfD "Ii2f, it 
would almost appear that Tur, Tupocj signifies a tower or 
fortress; so that the common derivation of the name Tyr- 
rheni, from tower-builders (Dionys. i. 26), is not, after all, 
so very improbable. The later island city was still one of 
the principal fortresses of the Hamites : although built on 
a precipitous rock, its walls were 150 feet high, and of a 
corresponding thickness (Arrian. de Exped. Alex. ii. 21). 
It has been often remarked that the Etruscan family 
names terminated in ne, as those of the Romans (the Fabii, 
Claudii, &c.) ended in ius ; e. g. Larth and Arnth Pursue 
{in Latin, Lars and Aruns Porsenna) : Ceicne (Csecina), 
&c. But I think that the same remark may be extended 
to national names : thus, from the city or district Tur, the 
inhabitants would be called by the Tuscans Turne; in 
Greek, Tu/o/otjvoi ; in Latin, Turini. According to Nie- 
buhr, Tuscus is only a variation of an original form Turinus: 
Turn us, prince of the Tyrrhenian Ardea, is nothing else 
than the Latin form of Tvrrheniis : and the old Latin form 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 219 

of Tyrrhus must have been Turrus or Turus : in Greek he 
is called Tvpptjvog (vol. i. p. 191). If the Pelasgian Tyr- 
rhenians who landed at Spina, from Thessaly, were the 
Arneans and Cadmeans already mentioned, they must have 
come originally from Tyre itself. Spina, says Niebuhr, 
was the predecessor of Venice in the dominion over the 
Adriatic, and is termed a Pelasgian city. With the Rabbis, 
the Tyre of Scriptiure is now represented by Venice : in 
this view, Venice, which succeeded Spina in the command 
of the Adriatic, is made the representative of the Peleisgo- 
Tyrrhenian settlements. Dr. M'Caul, in his recent trans- 
lation of Kimchi's Commentary on Zechariah, observes : 
Abarbanel absurdly endeavours to prove that Tyrus here 
(ch. ix.) means Venice (p. 101). 

As the Rabbis attach great importance to the connexion 
of Venice with Tyre, it is worth while to consider the 
origin of that Italian city. " The celebrated name of 
Venice or Venetia was formerly diffused over a large and 
fertile province of Italy. Before the irruption of the Bar- 
barians, fifty Venetian cities flourished in peace and pros- 
perity. Many families of Aquileia, Padua, and the 
adjacent towns, who fled from the sword of the Huns, 
found a safe though obscure refuge in the neighbouring 
islands. This emigration is not attested by any contempo- 
rary evidence ; but the fact is proved by the event, and the 
circumstances might be preserved by tradition. The citi- 
zens of Aquileia retired to the isle of Gradus; those of 
Padua (Antenor's Patavium), to Rivus Altus or Rialto, 
where the city of Venice was afterwards built" (Gibbon, 
ch. xxxv). " The commercial and trading spirit of Venice 
is her inheritance from her parent city, Patavium ; which 
having been founded, according to tradition, long before 



220 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

Rome, by some Trojan emigrants, escaped uninjured amid 
all the wars and disorders of Italy, — attained to extraordi- 
nary wealth, — and, in the age of Tiberius, was the first 
city of Italy next to Rome" (Niebuhr, vol. i.^. 163). Of 
Antenor, the founder of this city, Virgil says : — 

Ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit 
Teucrorum. 

Now Niebuhr includes the Trojans, Tyrrhenians, and 
Venetians, under the common name of Pelasgians, which 
at once places the Venetians among the Hamite nations. I 
shall, therefore, state, upon the authority of the Rabbis, 
that the Veneti of Antenor were Tyrrhenians or Tyrians ; 
and, consequently, that Venice is not only the prophetic 
representative, but also the lineal descendant of Tyre. 

I suspect that the Ardeates constituted another colony 
of Tyrians or Canaanites in Italy. Virgil says that the 
ancient name of their city was Ardua, which was afterwards 
modified into Ardea : — 

locus Ardua quondam 
Dictus avis, et nunc magnum manet Ardea nomen. 

The Scholiasts have variously explained the origin of the 
name, but I would suggest that it is derived from Arvad — 
that is, Arudi, the son of Canaan (Gen. x.). The principal 
settlement of this Canaanite was in the island Aradus ; the 
natives of which, in classical history, are called Aradii. 
The Arvadites, or Arudim, were intimately connected with 
Tyre : " the inhabitants of Zidon and Arud were thy 
mariners, O Tyrus" (Ezek. xxvii. 8) ; and they were the 
parent stock of the Tyrrhenian Ardeates in Italy ; for they 
also had passed over to Chittim. Niebuhr says, that in 

12 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 221 

a history of the origin of Florence, compiled, perhaps even 
before the time of Charlemagne, from strange popular 
legends and poetical sources, the subjects of Turnus, the 
Ardeates, are called Turini — that is, Tyrrheni: the same 
name presents itself in that of Turnus, and of the shepherd 
Tyrrhus ; and was borne without any change by a family 
of the Mamilian house. Ardea is designated as a Pelasgian 
city by the poet, who styles it an Argive one founded by 
Danae. Now if Ardea is admitted to be a Tyrrhenian city, 
the legend which represents Saguntum as a colony of the 
Ardeates, extends the spreading of the Pelasgians as far as 
Spain ; where, moreover, the ancient capital Tarraco has 
been considered as a Tyrrhenian city (vol. i. p. 43). 

Niebuhr has observed : It is to the Pelasgian Tyrrhe- 
nians, not to the Etruscans, that we must apply the lines 
of Hesiod (Theogon. 1011 — 15) concerning Agrius and 
Latin us ruling over all the renowned Tyrrhenians (vol. i. 
p. 43). And again : The superiority maintained by the 
religion of the Tyrrhenians, and by the arms of the Cas- 
cans, when the two nations united, is implied in the line. 

Sacra Deosque dabo ; socer arma Latinus habeto ; 

only that Latinus himself is to be considered as a Tyrrhe- 
nian (p. 188). Now the Latin name is so connected with 
Rome in the title of the modern Roman empire and Roman 
church, that it is interesting thus to have traced the word 
Latinus to a Tyrrhenian or Tyrian source ; for the Rabbis 
say that Tyre was the chief of the children of Esau. The 
Hamite name of Latium was probably Lat; from which 
the inhabitants would be originally called Latne, and after- 
wards Latini. 



222 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

PhilistinL — -The Hebrew term for Phiiistia, the subse- 
quent Palestine, is Phlist, rwbB ; and the name of the 
people in Tuscan would be Phlistne, which the Latins 
softened into Philistini, as we see in the cas^ of the Phi- 
listina Fossa. This foss or canal is in the neighbourhood of 
Venice, and it affords a very curious and independent con- 
firmation of the Rabbinical opinion, that the Philistines 
and Venetians are involved in the same fate. In a pro- 
phecy concerning the second restoration of the Jews, and 
which therefore yet remains to be fulfilled, Isaiah says: 
" The Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover 
the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, 
and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and 
from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from 
the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for 
the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and 
gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners 
of the earth. The envy, also, of Ephraira shall depart, and 
the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not 
envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they 
shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the 
West" (xi. 14). Upon this passage Rosenmuller remarks: 
The Septuagint have rendered the last words by " they 
shall fly in the ships of strangers ;" by which they under- 
stood the vessels of the Philistines and Phenicians. The 
passage was taken in the same sense by Abarbanel, " they 
shall fly on the shoulder of the Philistines; by which is 
meant the navy of the Philistines, of the Genoese and Vene- 
tians^ which shall bring back the Israelites from the West 
to the East." 

It would appear from many passages of Scripture, that 
there was a close connexion between the Tyrians, Philis- 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 223 

tines, and Edomites. In Amos (ch. i.), a common punish- 
ment is denounced against Tyre and Philistia, for delivering 
up their Jewish captives to the Edomites; and Edom is 
involved in the same doom. By the Rabbis, Tyre is called 
" the chief of the children of Esau ;" and Tyre and Philistia 
are associated in a particular manner by the prophets ^^ 
Although Philistia itself is but a narrow district, the people 
of that race must have had great influence in the West; for 
through them the holy land became known to the Greeks 
and Romans, under the name of Palestine. According to 
native accounts, the Phenicians originally dwelt by the 
Red Sea; but migrating thence, they occupied the coast 
of Syria : this part of Syria, including the whole district as 
far as Egypt, is called Palestine (land of the Philistim), 
Herod, vii. 89.\y^he words of Ammonius, as given by 
Prideaux at the year 129, afford some interesting particu- 
lars on this subject. The Jews, says he, are such by nature 
and from the beginning ; while the Idumeans were not Jews 
from the beginning, but Phenicians and Syrians ; but being 
afterward subdued by the Jews, and compelled to be cir- 
cumcised, and to unite into one nation, and to be subject to 
the same laws, they were called Jews. 

This passage from Ammonius anticipates an objection 
which might be raised against the Rabbinical theory of the 
origin of the Tuscans, on account of circumcision. About 
129, B.C. John Hyrcanus conquered the Idumeans, and 
gave them their choice either to be circumcised and obey 
the law of Moses, or to leave the country : they chose the 
former, and became one people with the Jews (Joseph. 
Antiq. xiii. 9). Hence it is evident that in the second 

^2 Jer. xlvii. Joel iii. Zech. ix- 



224 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

century, B.C. the Edomites did not practise the rite of cir- 
cumcision : at what time it became entirely obsolete is not 
known ; but it is probable that the custom was never 
general among them. ( 

Mr. Faber, in commenting upon the passage of Isaiah 
xi. 14, already quoted, says : The Bishop of Killala 
retains the common translation " they shall fly upon the 
shoulders," and supposes the passage to mean, that the 
Philistines should furnish the Jews with shipping, for the 
purpose of prosecuting their conquests westward. This 
seems to me unnatural. The Bishop defends his opinion 
on the ground, that the Philistines were most probably 
descended from the same ancestors as the Tyrians, that the 
colonies of the Tyrians were scattered throughout the isles 
of the West, and seated even beyond the straits of Gibraltar, 
and that thus their descendants will, agreeably to other 
prophecies, have the office assigned to them of conveying 
the Jews back to their own country in shipping. Though 
I believe that some western maritime Protestant nation 
will be instrumental in restoring a part of the Jews, I do 
not feel convinced that that circumstance is here alluded 
to ^^ Mr. Faber is openly at variance with Abarbanel, 
who explains the words " they shall fly upon the shoulders 
of the Philistines," by the navy of the Genoese and Vene- 
tians (the shipping of the Hamite Papal Tyrians), which 
shall bring back the Israelites from the West to the East ; 
neither do I think that this, or the phrases, " Tyre — ships 
of Tarshish," which are used in other places of Scripture, 
can be legitimately applied to a Protestant nation of Japhite 
origin, whether England or otherwise. 

13 General and Connected View of the Prophecies relative to the Restora- 
tion of Judah and Israel, vol. i. p. 139. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 225 

The judgment upon the prince of Tyrus, in Ezek. xxviii. 
is referred by Mr. Faber to the overthrow of papal Rome. 
He remarks : — Mr. Bicheno I believe to be right in refer- 
ring this prophecy to the yet future era of the restoration 
of Judah, but I think him mistaken in supposing, that Tyre 
is the type of some great modern commercial nation. He 
argues, that the prediction cannot relate to the overthrow 
of papal Rome, because Rome is not a commercial city, 
and does not possess any naval power ; and he censures 
Mr. Fraser for applying it, like myself, to the destruction 
of the Papacy. The argument, on which this censure is 
founded, is certainly inconclusive. If it prove any thing, 
it will prove equally, that the apocalyptic Babylon cannot 
be the papacy; because the apocalyptic Babylon is de- 
scribed like Tyre, as being a great commercial city, and 
as having many trading vessels out at sea (Id. vol. ii. 
p. 55). But, in my opinion, Babylon and Tuscan Rome 
have, equally with Tyre, a sufficiently naval character to 
satisfy the conditions of prophecy. The prophet Isaiah 
speaks of the Chaldeans exulting in their ships, ch. xliii. 14, 
on which passage Bishop Lowth gives the classical autho- 
rities. With respect to the naval character of Tuscan 
Rome, no authorities can be required ; yet I will refer to 
the impression on their coins : " The head of Janus," says 
Niebuhr, "from the earliest times was stamped on the 
Roman As ; the ship, on the reverse side, alludes to the 
maritime sway of the Tyrrhenians" (vol. i. p. 287). But 
the maritime feature of Papal Rome must be looked for 
principally in Tyrian Venice, which, at the formation of 
the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom in 1815, was secured to 
Papal Austria. " The marriage which Venice annually cele- 
brates with the Adriatic was (says Gibbon) contracted in 

2 



226 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

her early infancy. The ambiguous office of her twelve 
maritime tribunes, is explained by the tradition, that in 
the twelve principal islands, twelve tribunes or judges were 
created by an annual and popular election. (Gibbon, 
ch. XXXV.) In Ezek. xxviii. Tyre is represented, like 
Edom or Rome, as having once held the true faith, and 
afterwards declining from it; and the Rabbis look upon 
Tyre as " the chief of the children of Esau." Now Esau 
was brought up with especial favour in the household of 
Isaac; in his youth therefore he was necessarily brought 
by circumcision within the pale of the Church ; but when 
he lost the blessing by selling his birthright, he was cast 
out as profane from the mountain of God. Mr. Faber 
observes upon the passage of Amos, " the remnant of Edom, 
and of all the nations upon whom my name hath been 
called, saith the Lord (ix. 12) ;" This expression is re- 
markable, and clearly shows us what kind of nations are 
intended. The mystic Edom and his confederate nations, 
are not pagans, ignorant of the very name of the Lord, 
but professed worshippers of him. Against these nominal 
and corrupt believers of the Roman Edom, the wTath of 
God is denounced in almost every prophecy, that treats of 
the restoration of the Jews (vol. ii. p. 222). 

The prince of Tyre is thus described by Ezekiel : " Son 
of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord 
God : because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, 
I am a God, I sit in the seat of God in the midst of the 
seas ; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set 
thine heart as the heart of God (xxviii. 2)." On this pas- 
sage Mr. Faber observes : " The Man of Sin, who is 
described in a manner precisely similar, is, in profession, 
(as Bishop Newton observes,) a Christian, and a Christian 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. '227 

Bishop. His sitting in the temple of God plainly implies, 
his having his seat or cathedra in the Christian Church ; 
and he sitteth there as God, especially at his inauguration, 
when he sitteth upon the high altar in St. Peter's church, 
and maketh the table of the Lord his footstool, and in that 
position receiveth adoration" (vol. ii. p. 19). The parallel, 
that has been drawn between the customs of Pagan and 
Papal Rome, is well known ; but I have not seen noticed 
the resemblance that obtains between the sacerdotal 
government of the most ancient and of modern Rome. I 
have before observed, that the ancient king of Rome was 
elected from the families of the Lucumones, but these 
Lucumones themselves were a warlike sacerdotal caste, and 
constituted a priestly aristocracy. " From these facts we 
may infer with certainty," says Muller, " that in Etruria 
the civil supremacy of the nobles was closely combined 
with their possession of tlie priestly office : the Etruscan 
polity bore the stamp of an exclusive dominant caste, 
which formed a sacerdotal aristocracy" (vol. i. p. 374). 
The election of a king-priest, or high pontiff, out of the 
sacerdotal aristocracy, and his subsequent adoration, are 
customs not peculiar to modern Rome, but were common 
to it with the ancient Tuscans and the primeval Cushites ; 
the latter circumstance is worthy of some notice, as Tirha- 
kah, whom we have already traced to Italy, was king of 
the mighty Cushites in Arabia. According to Diodorus, 
" the laws of the Ethiopians differ not a little from those of 
other nations, particularly in the choice of their kings ; for 
the priests select the most distinguished individuals of their 
own order ; but of those thus selected, whichever the god, 
as he is carried about in festal pomp, shall lay hold of, him 
the people elect for their king, and instantly fall down and 

22 



228 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

offer him divine homage, the sovereignty being thus con- 
ferred upon him by the providence of the gods" (lib. iii. c. 
6). It was a peculiar and characteristic idea of the Italian 
people (says MuUer), to clothe in the habiliments of 
Jupiter the victorious general or ruler, and thus to make 
him the representative of the supreme god. Those robes, 
as well as the sceptre and diadem, belonged properly to the 
divine array of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the capitol, 
but they were brought out for the above-named purpose. 
From a similar religious feeling, the person, that was 
honoured with a triumph, coloured his face or whole per- 
son, like the (Cushite sacerdotal) nobles of Meroe, with 
vermilion, according to an old national custom ; the paint- 
ing of Jupiter's statue in the capitol with vermilion was 
specially intrusted to the Censor in later ages. Many of 
the figures on the lids of the sarcophagi in Tuscan sepul- 
chres, have their faces painted with vermilion, which cus- 
tom has been explained with great probability by Gori, as 
signifying a kind of Apotheosis (Muller, vol. i. p. 374). 
The Rabbis have their own explanation of the importance 
attached to this colour. They say that the Roman Empe- 
rors were dressed in scarlet, because Esau was of a red 
colour ; and that the Cardinals also wear a red dress for 
the same reason (Basnage, book xi). 

The Ethiopians (says Di odor us Siculus) are said to 
have been the inventors of pomps, sacrifices, solemn assem- 
blies, and other honours paid to the gods. The Tuscans 
under Tarquin have the credit of introducing these solem- 
nities into primitive Rome ; and no one will feel inclined to 
refuse precedence on this point to the sacerdotal govern- 
ment of modern Rome. 

From the facts mentioned in this chapter it would almost 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 229 

appear, that Esau joined himself to the Cushites of Arabia, 
as Ishmael had previously become identified with the 
Mitzrites. 

Three Abrahamic Races, — To Abraham it was promised, 
that he should be the father of many nations, and that 
kings should come out of him. In the direct line was his 
grandson Jacob, the father of the Israelites, and to whom, 
in particular, was granted the blessing ; collaterally there 
were two, and only two other heads of Abrahamic races 
who received a blessing, — Ishmael, the brother of Isaac ; 
and Esau, the brother of Jacob. From Ishmael sprang 
the Arabian race, in which, under the character of Saracens, 
or rather of Mahometans, was marvellously fulfilled his 
share in the promise to Abraham. From Esau were 
derived the Edomites, at one period a powerful nation, but 
which never could be placed in comparison with the Ara- 
bians for multitude; as Romans, however, the Edomites 
present a complete uniformity and correspondence with the 
other two great Abrahamic races. How amply, under any 
point of view, has the promise to Abraham been fulfilled ; 
but of how many more nations and kings must he have 
been the father, if his posterity does indeed include the 
Israelites, Mahometans, and Romans ! 

It was not to be expected that the Rabbis would make 
use of the word Christians, but their application of the 
term Edomites, in that sense, has created some surprise. 
Their ordinary denomination for the members of the Latin 
Church is Edomites, as Ishmaelites is that for Mahometans; 
both these names occur in Abarbanel's commentary on the 
passage of Zechariah : " Awake, O sword, against my 
shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the 



230 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

Lord of hosts" (xiii. 7). The interpretation of this pas- 
sage most appropriate in my eyes, is (says Abarbanel), 
that the words " my shepherd" are spoken of the prophet 
of the Ishmaelites, whom they call Mahomet, of whom 
they say, that God sent him into the world to feed his 
sheep, the children of men ; and that the words " the man 
my fellow," are spoken of Jesus the Nazarene, for, accord- 
ing to the sentiments of the children of Edom, and their 
faith, he was the Son of God, and of the same substance, 
and therefore he is called according to their words, "the 
man that is my fellow." Abarbanel here plainly and posi- 
tively asserts, that these words express the Christian doc- 
trine of the deity of the Messiah (M'Caul on Kimchi's 
Zechariah, p. 170. 173). 

Concerning Esau it is said, " Thou shalt serve thy bro- 
ther ; but it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the 
dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck" 
(Gen. xxvii. 40). This prophecy was partly accomplished 
in the days of Jehoram, when Edom recovered her inde- 
pendence; but its complete fulfilment took place under 
Titus, " the descendant of Esau," when he subverted the 
Jewish nation and polity by the conquest of Jerusalem, 
and the destruction of their temple. The Jerusalem Tar- 
gum thus paraphrases the passage of Esau's blessing : And 
it shall be when the sons of Jacob attend to the law, and 
observe the precepts, they shall impose the yoke of servi- 
tude upon thy neck ; but when they shall turn away them- 
selves from studying the law, and neglect the precepts, 
behold then thou shalt shake off the yoke of servitude from 
thy neck. Now, at no period of their whole career, was 
the study of the law, or the practice of their religion, at so 
low an ebb among the Jews, as at the final dissolution of 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 231 

their state. " Had the Romans delayed to come," says 
Josephus, " against these execrable persons, I believe 
either the earth would have swallowed up, or a deluge 
would have swept away their city, or fire from heaven 
would have consumed it, as it did Sodom ; for it brought 
forth a generation of men far more wicked than they who 
suffered such things" (Jewish War, v. 13). " Whilst they 
trampled under foot every human law, they ridiculed 
religion, and scoffed at the oracles of the prophets as the 
fictions of impostors" (Ibid. iv. 6). 

Nature of Prophecy. — Since the discovery of the ruins of 
Petra, an opinion seems to have arisen that the prophecies 
concerning Edom have received not only a most unexpect- 
edly complete, but also a final accomplishment. On the 
texts, " There shall not be an 5^ remaining of the house of 
Esau; — Edom shall be cut off for ever," Dr. Keith re- 
marks : The aliens of Judah ever look with wistful eyes to 
the land of their fathers ; but no Edomite is now to be 
found to dispute the right of any animal to the possession 
of it, or to banish the owl from the temples and tombs of 
Edom. But the house of Esau did remain, and existed in 
great power, till after the commencement of the Christian 
era, — a period far too remote from the date of the predic- 
tion for their subsequent history to have been foreseen by 
man. The Idumeans were soon after mingled with the 
Nabatheans ; and in the third century their language was 
disused, and their very name, as designating any people, 
had utterly perished ; and their country itself having be- 
come an outcast from Syria, among whose kingdoms it had 
long been numbered, was united to Arabia Petrsea. Though 
the descendants of the twin-born Esau and Jacob have met 



232 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

a diametrically opposite fate, the fact is no less marvellous 
and undisputed than the prediction in each case is alike 
obvious and true. While the posterity of Jacol^ have been 
" dispersed in every country under heaven," and are " scat- 
tered among all nations," and have ever remained distinct 
from them all ; and whilst it is also declared that " a full end 
will never be made of them;" the Edomites, though they 
existed as a nation for more than seventeen hundred years, 
have, as a period of nearly equal duration has proved, been 
cut off for ever ; and while Jews are in every land, there is 
not any remaining, on any spot of earth, of the house of Esau 
(p. 215). 

These remarks are very just and obvious in a limited 
sense ; but since I find myself, as to the general principle, 
so unexpectedly supported by the Rabbis who continue out 
the prophecies of Edom to Rome, I shall not hesitate to 
repeat here what I have said in my " Essays on the Ante- 
diluvian Age." In that short sketch of the antediluvian 
church, I had occasion briefly to discuss the nature and 
object of prophecy; and I endeavoured to establish from 
the expression of St. Peter (Second Epistle, i. 20), which I 
translate " Not any prophecy of Scripture is of individual 
fulfilment," that there are certain ava/cmcXaxrcic, or succes- 
sive and more complete fulfilments of the same prophecy. 
" Hence the Christian may still read concerning the deli- 
verance of Christ's church from her mystic enemies — 
Assyria and Edom — in the same page which formerly com- 
forted the Jew with the assurance of a temporal deliverance 
from those persecuting kingdoms. Indeed, these adversa- 
ries of the Jews are spoken of in such august terms, as show 
in themselves that the language has but a very subordinate 
reference to a Sennacherib, &c. We at once behold a 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 233 

greater power than an Assyrian king in the following apos- 
trophe : " Thou shalt pronounce this parable upon the king 
of Babylon, and say : — 

" How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning ! 
Art cut down to the earth, thou that didst subdue the nations ! 
Yet thou didst say in thine heart, I will ascend the heavens ; 
Above the stars of God I -will exalt my throne. 
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I \vill be hke the 

Most High ; 
But thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the 

pit." — Isaiah xiv. Bp. Lowth's Version. 

" Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom 
the day of Jerusalem, when they said, Down with it, down 
with it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of 
Babylon, that art to be destroyed, happy shall he be that 
rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us" (Psalm cxxxvii. 
7,8). 

" When Sennacherib railed and blasphemed against the 
Most High in his attack upon Jerusalem (2 Kings xix.), 
the sentence passed upon him was, " Behold, I will send a 
blast upon him, &c. And it came to pass that the angel of 
the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 
an hundred fourscore and five thousand." Isaiah, pro- 
phetically describing this supernatural destruction of the 
Assyrian, says of Christ (xi. 4) : — 

** He shall smite the earth with the blast of his mouth. 
And with the breath of his hps he shall slay the wicked one **." 

And again (xiv. 24) : — 

" Surely as I have devised, so shall it be : 
And as I have purposed, it shall stand ; 
To crush the Assyrian in my land. 
And to trample him on my mountains." 

'* In the Chaldee paraphrase, " he shall slay the wicked one," is rendered, 
" he shall destroy the wicked Roman.'' 



234 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

" Of the first passage (xi. 4) St. Paul has made an appli- 
cation to the Man of Sin (2 Thess. ii. 8) ; and thus identi- 
fied this Assyrian with the Babylon of Rev. 4viii. The 
fate of Sennacherib's army leads us to suppose that the Man 
of Sin, also, will meet with a supernatural destruction in the 
holy land, near to Jerusalem." 

And again : " The prophecy of our Lord (Matt, xxiv.) 
concerning the introduction of Christianity at the subver- 
sion of the Jewish polity, is even more applicable to the 
complete establishment of Messiah's kingdom at the end of 
the times of the Gentiles. Its primary fulfilment, in the 
destruction of Jerusalem, presented a fiery ordeal to the 
men of that generation ; but its fuller completion in the 
utter destruction of the fourth, or Roman empire, will prove 
a furnace seven times more heated, to try the faith of another 
generation. Almost every particular that is mentioned by 
our Lord among the signs of his former coming, will be 
repeated in a new cycle during the coming of his great and 
terrible day : nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
against kingdom ; because iniquity shall abound, the love 
of many shall wax cold ; there shall arise false Christs and 
false prophets ; Jerusalem shall again he compassed ivith ar- 
mies of the Roman empire ; in the holy place shall be seen a 
still greater abomination of desolation, even the idolatrous 
ensigns of a nominally Christian Church ; the Gospel must 
first be published among all nations ; and as a snare shall 
that day come on all them that dwell on the face of the 
whole earth ''." 

Mr. Faber observes, that, as far as matters of this kind 



^5 Antediluvian Age, Essay iii. For the distinct fulfilment of the pro- 
phecy (Matt, xxiv.) at the end of the Jewish age, see Essay vii. note h. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 235 

are capable of proof, the opinion of Bishop Horsley, or at 
least something very like his opinion, seems to be proved. 
I have an unfashionable partiality, says the Bishop in his 
letter to Mr. King, for the opinions of antiquity. I think 
there is ground in the prophecies for the notion of the early 
fathers, that Palestine is the stage on which Antichrist, in 
the height of his impiety, will perish. I am much inclined, 
too, to assent to another opinion of the fathers, that a small 
band of the Jews will join Antichrist, and be active instru- 
ments of his persecutions. And I agree with you that it is 
not unlikely that this small part of the Jews will be settled 
in Jerusalem, under the protection of Antichrist (Connected 
View, vol. ii. p. 111). The subject of " Antichrist past and 
to come," in this point of view, is discussed in my eighth 
Essay. 

Many Protestant writers think that there will be no 
national restoration of the Jews to the land and privileges 
of their forefathers; and they argue that the numerous 
sublime promises in Scripture, relative to the future glories 
of the Jews and of Jerusalem, are to be understood of the 
Christian Church, of which the Jewish Church was a 
figure. But Dr. M'Caul, who ably contends for the gram- 
matical, in opposition to the figurative, acceptation of these 
prophecies, observes : "It behoves all Protestants to consider 
how they will advocate a principle essentially necessary to 
the very existence of Roman usurpation, especially when 
that principle is, like most of the Romish peculiarities, an 
innovation, and a departure from Christian antiquity. The 
writers who were nearest the apostolic times, and who lived 
in the purest period of the Church's history, were the most 
likely to know the apostolic mode of interpretation ; and, if 
apostolic tradition is to be found anywhere, it is to be looked 



236 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

for amongst them, rather than amongst those who were fur- 
ther removed. As the Church grew older, the pretensions 
of Rome grew bolder ; and the grammatical injferpretation, 
as being inconsistent with those pretensions, was naturally 
rejected as a heresy. The Roman Church's claim to uni- 
versal supremacy, necessarily pre-supposes a figurative 
interpretation of the prophecies relating to Israel ; for, if 
Jerusalem be the city of the Great King, and is yet to be 
rebuilt and glorified, and to become the religious metropolis 
of the world, Rome sinks into insignificance ; she is neither 
the mother nor the mistress of all the churches, and all her 
pretensions vanish. The hopes of Israel's future restora- 
tion and glory supply the very strongest arguments against 
all the claims of Rome ; whereas the so-called spiritual 
interpretation is the only mode whereby she can evade 
the overpowering mass of prophetic evidence against her 
usurped dominion ^^" In this passage we plainly perceive, 
under a new form, the original struggle between Edom 
and Israel for the superiority ; and it is foretold that the 
warfare will be kept up until the prophetic period — the 
times of the Gentiles — shall be fulfilled; until the four 
great Hamite empires shall be entirely superseded by the 
fifth or spiritual kingdom of the Messiah. 

" It is worthy of notice," says Mr. Faber, " that the 
learned among the Jews have ever considered Edom as a 
type of Rome; whence they interpret those prophecies, 
which foretel some future calamities about to befal Edom, 
iis relating, not to the literal Edom, but to his antitype 
Rome ; or, as they might more accurately have expressed 



'« Two Sermons on the Conversion and Restoration of the Jews, by Dr. 
M'Caul. J 837. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 237 

tliemselves, to the Roman empire ; for Edom being a king- 
dom, his antitype must be a kingdom likewise. Thus R. 
Kimchi asserts, that " whatever the prophets have spoken 
of the destruction of Edom in the last times, they have 
spoken concerning Rome;" and that, " when Rome shall 
be laid waste, there shall be redemption to Israel." The 
same commentator applies the thirty- fourth chapter of 
Isaiah, which, like the prophecy (Isaiah Ixii. and Ixiii.) 
now under consideration, literally treats of the desolation of 
Edom and the Lord's sacrifice in Bozrah, to the downfall 
of Rome ; and cites with marks of approbation the Chaldee 
exposition of the ninth verse, " The streams of Rome shall 
be changed into pitch." It is sufficiently evident, indeed, 
that the two predictions are so entirely parallel to each 
other, that they must both relate to the same events. The 
thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters compose one prophecy, 
as the sixty-second and sixty -third compose another. They 
both equally treat of the restoration of Judah, and the 
downfall of the antichristian Roman confederacy under the 
mystical name of Edom. The only difference between them 
is, that in the one the overthrow of Antichrist is first men- 
tioned, and in the other the restoration of Judah. R. Kimchi 
applies, in a similar manner, the whole twenty-fourth chap- 
ter of Isaiah to the destruction of Edom and the return of 
Israel, declaring it to be a prophecy yet unaccomplished ; 
and what he understands by Edom, he shows by his com- 
mentary on the sixteenth verse : " Whoever inquires into 
the destruction of Rome, let him diligently examine the 
whole book of the Lord." Both he and R. Solomon Jarchi 
use exactly the same language when paraphrasing the 
eleventh verse of the twenty-first chapter of Isaiah : " The 
burden of Dumah, which is Edom," says R. Jarchi : " The 



238 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

burden of Rome," says R. Kimchi. The Targum on the 
twenty-second verse of the fourth chapter of Lamentations, 
is composed on precisely the same principle of mystic in- 
terpretation : " And after thine iniquity shall be accom- 
plished, O congregation of Zion, thou shalt be delivered 
by the hand of Messiah, and Elias the high-priest^'; and 
the Lord shall no more cause thee to migrate into other 
countries ; and in that time I will visit thine iniquity, O 
Rome, which art built in Italy, and art full of the troops of 
the sons of Edom." In fine, R. Abraham Sebah, com- 
menting on the first chapter of Genesis, says, that. While 
the sixth millennary of the world is running out and draw- 
ing near to a close, Rome shall be destroyed, and the Jews 
shall return from their dispersion. 

" In thus closely connecting together the downfall of the 
Roman Antichristian faction, and the restoration of Judah, 
the Hebrew doctors seem to me to be perfectly right ; an 
attentive perusal of the ancient Scriptures, not to mention 
those of the New Testament, must unavoidably lead every 
person to the same conclusion. Such prophecies as are 
unchronological, rarely foretel the return of the Jews 
without declaring, that at the very same season, there shall 
be a tremendous overthrow of God's enemies. These 
enemies they sometimes describe as a great confederacy of 
many nations : at other times they designate them by the 
general name of Edom. What then are we to understand 
by the power or powers termed Edom, at the yet future 
period of the restoration of Israel ? This we are abundantly 
taught, in a manner that can scarcely be misunderstood, by 
the two chronological prophets, Daniel and St. John. At 

*' The future return of Elias and Enoch is discussed at large in my Ante- 
diluvian Age, Essay ix, and in Dr. M'Caul's Two Sermons already quoted. 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 239 

the close of a certain grand period, indift'ereiitly styled 
three times (or years) and a half, forty-two months, and 
1260 days, all which equally mean 1260 natural years, the 
last or Roman beast and his little tyrannical horn, are to 
begin to be destroyed. At the close of the very same 
period, the power of the Jews is to cease to be scattered ; 
or, in other words, is to begin to be restored. At this 
time, likewise, a power noted for atheism, infidelity, and 
tyranny ; a power, which should spring up after the era of 
the Reformation, is to come to its end, none being able to 
help it, after having first invaded Palestine, and taken 
Jerusalem. And at the close of these same 1260 years, 
St. John declares, that the great Roman beast under his 
last head, his colleague the false Romish prophet, or the 
two-horned beast (which answer to the ten-horned beast, 
and the little horn of Daniel), and his confederates, the 
vassal kings of the Latin empire, shall be totally over- 
thrown by the word of God at Megiddo in Palestine ; and 
that the winepress shall be trodden in a country 1600 fur- 
longs in length, which is the precise measure of the Holy 
Land. Now, since the restoration of the Jews is to com- 
mence at the end of the 1260 years ; and since the un- 
speakable time of trouble, during which the Roman beast 
under his last head, the atheistical king, the false prophet, 
and the confederated Latin sovereigns, will be overthrown, 
is to be contemporary with the restoration of the Jews; 
since, likewise, whenever the Jews are restored, a confede- 
racy of God's enemies, more than once mystically deno- 
minated Edom, is to be utterly broken by the victorious 
Messiah at his Second Advent ; it will necessarily follow, 
that what Isaiah terms Edom, must be the confederacy of 
the ten-horned beast, the little horn, and the atheistical 

12 



240 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

king ; that is to say, the mystic Edom must be, what the 
Hebrew doctors have rightly judged him to be, some grand 
confederacy formed, during the last days, witl^n the limits 
of the Roman empire. And at this conclusion they might 
most assuredly arrive, merely by comparing together differ- 
ent parts of their own Scriptures. St. John, indeed, both 
confirms the conclusion, and throws a yet stronger light on 
the subject ; but the conclusion itself might have been 
equally drawn, had he never written the Apocalypse ; and, 
accordingly, we find that it actually has been drawn, not 
merely by Christian, but by Jewish, commentators. On 
the whole, we may safely venture to assert, that the vin- 
tage, described by Isaiah, is the same as the vintage pre- 
dicted both by Joel and St. John ; they equally relate to 
the overthrow of Antichrist and his associates" (Faber's 
Connected View, vol. i. p. 312). 

The Tuscans were remarkable for numerical speculations 
relating to the length of the life of man and of nations. 
Their history, which embraces the whole course of time, 
was included in a series of secies (saecula). A natural 
secle was measured by the duration of man's longest life. 
The first secle of a state ended with the death of the citizen 
who lived the longest among the persons born on the day 
it was founded ; the second lasted until none was left of all 
who were living at the close of the first ; and so on for the 
rest. The duration of every people was fixed beforehand ; 
a definite number of these natural secies, which varied 
however for different nations, constituted the secular day, 
to which the existence of tlie nation was limited. The 
Etruscan secular day, it is said, consisted of ten ; the 
Roman day, of twelve secies. According to the Etruscans, 
the human race of the present creation has eight such day> 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 241 

assigned to it; each day to a fresh people ; and during the 
continuance of one people, prophecy is to be in honour ; 
during that of another, in abasement. They taught, that 
the expiration of each secular day was announced from 
heaven by wonders and signs, intelligible to them; so was 
the close of every natural secle, ten of which, of unequal 
length, made up the great day of the Etruscans; the 
signs, by which each of these epochs had been announced, 
were recorded in their history. See Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 135. 
The augury of the twelve fated vultures of Romulus, 
was a poetical mode of expressing an Etruscan prophecy, 
that a period of twelve secies was allotted to Rome. "This 
prophecy," says Niebuhr, « was never forgotten ; and in 
the twelfth century of the city, which is divided between 
the fourth and fifth of our era, filled all the adherents of the 
old religion with alarm ; as every thing was visibly verging 
toward ruin, and their faith was opprest. According to 
Varro's Fasti, the twelfth secle, if each, after the custom of 
the later Romans, was assumed equal to a century, would 
end with the year 446 ; but although the train of calamities 
that broke in with the fifth century of our era, gave an 
air of probability to this interpretation in the minds of those 
who were then living, a Tuscan aruspex would, neverthe- 
less, have rejected it. As an average number for secies of 
an indefinite length, determined by the life of man, and as 
an astronomical cyclical period, a hundred and ten years 
were properly the measure of a secle. This brings the 
sum of the years contained in twelve secies to 1320, and the 
end of the term assigned to Rome, to an epoch when it may 
be said with strict truth, that the city of Romulus ceased to 
exist. According to Varro's chronology, the twelfth secle 
would have ended with a.d. 566; according to Cincius, to 



242 ON THE ORIGIN AND 

whom the Etruscan would probably have given the pre- 
ference, with A.D. 591, the first year of the pontificate of 
Gregory the Great. In either case, the time expires in 
the latter half of the sixth century of our era ; when the 
city, after having been more than once taken by storm, saw 
the remnant that the sword had spared, wasting away by 
hunger and pestilence ; when the senate and the old fami- 
lies which were still left, were exterminated by Totila, so 
that scarcely the name of senator, or a shadow of a muni- 
cipal constitution survived ; when Rome was subjected to 
the degrading rule of an Eastern exarch, who resided at a 
distance from her ; when the old religion, and along with 
it all hereditary usages, were abolished, and a new religion 
was preaching other virtues, and another kind of happiness 
exclusively, and was condemning sins unreproved by the 
old morality ; when the ancient sciences and arts, all old 
memorials and monuments, were looked upon as an abomi- 
nation, the great men of ancient times as doomed to hope- 
less perdition ; and Rome, having been disarmed for ever, 
was become the capital of a spiritual empire, which, after 
the lapse of twelve centuries, we have seen interrupted in 
our days" (Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 2*21). 

The termination of another great secular day of Rome, 
of twelve more secies, under its new character of a spiritual 
empire, as mentioned by Niebuhr, cannot fail to remind 
the reader of the 1260 years, which are so closely con- 
nected with the destiny of spiritual Rome in the Scrip- 
tures. The notion that the prophecy in Rev. xiii. relates 
to the descendants of the ancient Tuscans, seems to be 
confirmed by their mysterious dealing in numbers : *' Here 
is wisdom; let him that hath understanding count the 
number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and 



PROPHETIC DESTINY OF THE TUSCANS. 243 

his number is six hundred three-score and six." Niebuhr, 
as we have seen, considers that a period of a hundred and 
ten years was properly the measure of an Etruscan secle ; 
he probably fixed on this period, as the nearest round 
number which arises from dividing 781 by 7; for, it is 
said, that the first seven secies amounted to seven hundred 
and eighty-one years. The seven natural secies, however, 
necessarily varied in length, and they are stated to have 
ranged from a hundred and five to a hundred and twenty- 
three years; but since the first four are known to have 
contained exactly a hundred and five years each^^ and 
since they all depended on the length of human life, it is 
something more than a mere probability, that as three 
actually ranged from a hundred and five upwards to a hun- 
dred and twenty- three years, the remaining three of the 
ten Etruscan secies should fall as much below a hundred 
and five, and so give an average of a hundred and five, and 
not of a hundred and ten years. In this case, the twelve 
secies, allotted by Etruscan tradition to the existence of 
Pagan Rome, would exactly correspond with the 1260 
years of spiritual Rome. If we use this measure instead 
of Niebuhr's, in calculating the twelve Roman secies, we 
arrive at the following results : According to Varro, 
Rome was founded Olymp. vi. 3, and its twelfth secle 
would close A.D. 506 ; but according to the chronology of 
Cincius, which Niebuhr says an Etruscan would prefer, 
the era of the city was fixed to Olymp. xii. 4, and the 
secular day of Pagan Rome would terminate 531. The 
commencement of the 1260 years, which are connected 
with the destiny of spiritual Rome in the Scriptures, is 

" Censorinus de Die Nat. xvii. 6. quoted by Muller, vol. ii. p. 332. 

r2 



244 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE TUSCANS. 

very variously stated by commentators; but I may men- 
tion, that the year 533, in which the Bishop of Rome was 
declared the head of all the Churches by the Emperor 
Justinian, has met with favour from several expositors, as 
it brings the fated period to a close in the memorable year 
1 793. I am not using this argument to fix the date of the 
Christian prophecy, which is not likely to be clearly known 
till the completion of all the chronological numbers con- 
nected with it; my object here is merely to render pro- 
bable the notion, that those 1260 years, and the number of 
the name, point at the mystical dealing in numbers by the 
earlier Tuscans ; and that a more thorough acquaintance 
with Tuscan and Edomitish antiquities, may tlirow a new 
and unexpected light upon the Scriptures. 

The limited pages of a Manual is not the place to dis- 
cuss the important subject of Etruria, which has itself 
already filled numerous volumes ; enough has been said 
for the object of this work : scholars will of course recur to 
the original sources, amongst which, in future, must not be 
forgotten the Hebrew Bible, and its native interpreters. 

Whoever inquires into the destruction of Rome, let him 
diligently examine the whole book of the Lord. Kimchi 
on Isaiah xxiv. 16. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

*' Their fables and disfigured legends show that tlie Romans arose from 
the coalition of several nations which were wholly distinct from one another." 

Niehuhr. 

The Pelasgians were the most skilful and daring seamen 
of antiquity : under the protection of Hercules, to whom 
most of their harbours were dedicated, they penetrated to 
the remotest place in which any opening for traffic pre- 
sented itself. This part of their character is sufficiently 
understood ; but it seems, in general, to have escaped 
notice that they were equally enterprising by land *. 
Under the protection of their deity Hercules, to whom 
also the principal commercial roads were dedicated by the 
general name of Hercules' way, these pioneers of civiliza- 
tion in their pursuit of gain forced a passage through 
woods and over mountains, in regions which are generally 
considered to have been only the haunts of wild beasts or 

^ See the extracts from Strabo, Part iii. ch. i. init. 



246 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

savages in those remote ages. The best known instance 
among these sacred ways, which however formed only one 
particular line of road in the wanderings of Hercules over 
the western continent, is that to which my subject now 
leads me in following out the inland history of the Curete 
Hamites in Italy. 

In lapygia, where tradition relates that Hercules slew 
the giants, are shown a remarkable well and a hallowed 
foot-print of the god : indeed, in various parts of Italy, 
there are many memorials of Hercules on the roads which 
he traversed (Ritter's Vorhalle, p. 351). The most im- 
portant of these is the sacred road, called Hercules' way, 
which passed out from Italy over the Alps ; every way- 
farer thereon, whether native or foreigner, was placed by 
divine sanction under the protection of the inhabitants, to 
see that he should receive no harm ; if any injury befel the 
traveller, a fine was imposed on the natives of the parti- 
cular district in which the mischance occurred '. To Her- 
cules, the patron deity of this insured high road, sacrifices 
were offered at the commencement of the journey. Propter 
viam sacrificare, which Festus thus explains : " Propter 
viam fit sacrificium, quod est proficiscendi gratia, Herculi 
aut Sanco, qui scilicet idem est deus." These passages con- 
cerning the very ancient hospitality and religious regard 
for foreign travellers in the midst of Europe, says Ritter, 
is very remarkable ; for it pre-supposes an early commercial 
intercourse among these inland tribes, and shows that, as far 
as this Hercules' way extended, it passed through a people 
distinguished for their fear of God and obedience to law, 
in a manner which puts to shame the much \'aunted later 

2 Aristot. de Mir.-ib. Auscult. c. Ixx.wi. p. 17<'». Beckinanii 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 247 

Greeks and Romans, who looked upon all other people as 
barbarians ; whilst these mis-called barbarians of the North 
exercised justice with scrupulous care towards the stranger 
who was placed, equally with themselves, under the most 
holy protection of their deity. The point from which the 
road began, and the particular places it passed through, we 
know not ; but traces of it may be discovered through the 
Alpine and German north, as far as the Hyperboreans and 
Cimmerians (Ritter, p. 361 — 368). 

Whatever uncertainty exists as to the direction of this 
road, I think it must be entirely removed in favour of that 
route which would satisfy the two following conditions : 
viz. (1) that it led into a country which contained vestiges 
of the old Curete worship ; and (2) which aflforded a valu- 
able and attractive object of merchandise to the Pelas- 
gians. 

(1.) Festus, by identifying Hercules with Sancus, evi- 
dently thought that the Sabines followed the same mode of 
worship as the Curete Pelasgians ; the fact, however, is 
clear enough from the name of the Sabine capital. Cures ; 
from the name of the people themselves, Quirites; and 
from that of their chief deity, the sun-god Quirinus. That 
the Sabines paid adoration to the Sun, we learn from the 
testimony of Varro, who says: The altars which the 
Sabine king Tatius erected at Rome, show their Sabine 
origin in their name; for, according to the annals, they 
were dedicated to Ops, to Flora, to Vedius, to Jupiter and 
Saturn, to Sol, to Luna, to Volcanus and Summanus with 
Larunda, to Terminus, to Quirinus, to Vortumnus, to the 
Lares, to Diana and Lucina (De Ling. Lat. v. 74). The 
statement of Dionysius (ii. 50) nearly coincides with that 
of Varro : Tatius erected altars and chapels to the Sun and 



248 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

Moon, to Saturn and Rhea ; also to Vesta, Vulcan, Diana, 
Quirinus, and other gods whose names it is difficult to 
express in the Greek tongue. 

Now the Courlanders of the present day, and the Prus- 
sian fishermen on the Curische Haf, call themselves by the 
old native name of Cures ; but as we find the term Cures, 
Curetes, &c. in Greece and other countries, that circum- 
stance can be adduced in proof of nothing further than the 
general fact, that the old Courlanders, the Sabines, Greeks, 
&c. all followed the same great system of Curete worship. 
The earliest notice of the Courlanders and Prussians, 
before their conversion to Christianity, represents them, 
like the Sabines, as paying adoration to the sun. " The 
worship of the people consisted chiefly in the adoration of 
the sun, moon, and stars, and also of different animals 
which were held sacred in different districts. A perpetual 
fire burnt in the house of their kriwe, or high- priest" 
(Make Brun, vol. vii. p. 4). "A manuscript, found in the 
secret archives of the Teutonic order at Konigsberg, con- 
tains some remarks on the religion of the ancient Prussians, 
and states that each tribe honoured some particular divinity : 
one the sun, another the moon, others different animals, &c. 
Like the Germans and Persians, they had neither temples 
nor idols, but holy places set apart for tlieir religious rites 
within the precincts of consecrated groves, the luci of the 
ancient Latins" (Essai Critique, vol. i. p. 37. 81). For the 
honours they paid to deities, similar to the Roman Flora, 
Pomona, Epona, &c., see the chapter on the Lithu- 
anians. 

I suspect that the consecrated luci of the Romans were 
originally fire-groves, and contained a continually burning 
fire, like the pyratheia or sacred iiidosures of rlio Ciirotc 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. *249 

Persians (Strabo, lib. xv.) ; and that the lucus was so called 
a lucendo, i. e. from the sacred fire which was kept ever 
burning within it. 

(2.) As it is not probable that the remote countries of 
Prussia and Courland were visited only as intermediate 
points and resting-places on the way to still more distant 
regions, I shall next consider whether they themselves 
afforded sufficient inducement for the Curete merchants of 
Italy to traffic and settle there. 

According to Muller, the Tuscans, in their northern 
settlements on the Po, were engaged from remote antiquity 
in a considerable land trade with countries, of which we 
have but an imperfect notion from our very earliest his- 
tories. As a trace of such an intercourse, he alludes to the 
tradition of the sacred way over the Alps, which was gua- 
ranteed by all the neighbouring tribes ; but he states that 
the most convincing proof of an open communication from 
Tuscan Upper Italy, across the Alps into the North, is 
contained in the notices of the ancients concerning the 
traffic in amber (vol. i. p. 280). It is at least evident that 
this highly-prized substance afforded to the Pelasgians and 
Tuscans an important object, both for their home and 
foreign trade. In the Odyssey (xv. 458), Homer describes 
a merchant offering for sale, in a Greek island, a golden 
necklace set with amber; but that merchant was a Phe- 
nician. In another passage (xviii. 291), a golden necklace 
of elegant workmanship set with amber, and highly splen- 
did, is mentioned in a list of presents to a lady (Mitford, 
vol. i. p. 156). But there must have been a considerable 
demand for amber within Tuscany itself; for, besides other 
uses, it formed a part of the funereal pomp, and is still 
found within the ancient Etruscan sepulchres. Micali states 



"250 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

that, according to the rank or means of the deceased, the 
body was decorated with rich vestments, and with ornaments 
of gold, silver, or amber elaborately wrought ; and that in 
the sepulchres of Vulci and Tarquinia — but particularly at 
Puglia and Basilicata — have been found numerous pieces 
of amber cut into various forms (vol. ii. p. 24*2. and iii. p. 
221). 

In the earliest accounts which we possess concerning the 
natural history of amber, it is always mentioned in company 
with a river Eridanus, and in connexion with some legend 
relating to the worship of the sun ; therefore in determin- 
ing the locality of that river, it is necessary that all these 
conditions should be combined ; viz. amber, native on a 
river named Eridanus, in a country occupied by sun wor- 
shippers or Curetes. It is also probable that the Hercules' 
way, mentioned above, had some connexion with the river 
Eridanus ; as Pherecydes states that Hercules iiimself 
passed by this river in the course of his journeying from 
Greece to Tartessus (Muller, vol. i. p. 281). 

It would appear that amber was first introduced among 
the Greeks by Phenician or Pelasgian merchants, who 
reported that it came from a river Eridanus, and that the 
natives ascribed its origin to a supernatural cause, as de- 
scribed in the legend of Phaeton and the Heliades, though 
the story was doubtless much improved, or rather obscured, 
in its Greek version. In the first instance, the river Erida- 
nus was placed on the Adriatic coast, and the later Greeks 
were surprised at not finding amber on the banks of the Po; 
but as they became more intimately acquainted with that 
part of the world, the river withdrew into more remote and 
obscure regions : and Herodotus received with incredulity 
the account of an Eridanus, which produced amber, and 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 251 

flowed into the northern sea among the Hyperborean na- 
tions. The increasing knowledge of the Greeks drove them 
out of their belief in an Italian Eridanus which produced 
amber ; but, as they never formed any intimate connexion 
with the northern nations, they were not able to verify or 
disprove the existence of a northern Eridanus, although it 
was known that amber came from remote regions in the 
North. If we now consult the Roman writers, we find it 
allowed on all hands that amber was a natural production 
of the northern ocean, and was brought to Italy over land. 
Pytheas, the navigator of Marseilles, in the fourth century, 
B.C. states (according to Pliny, xxxvii. 2), that it was col- 
lected by the Goths, or Low Germans, on a northern estu- 
ary, and sold to the nearest Teutons or central High Ger- 
mans : and Tacitus relates that the Roman demand for this 
article led to its collection by the ^stii on the Baltic, and 
its transmission over land to Italy. In the time of Pliny, 
the line of intercourse from the Baltic lay through Pan- 
nonia, to the Veneti on the Adriatic : and this must have 
been the line of passage in the days of Herodotus ; for if 
the Phenicians had brought it by sea in the remotest times 
from the Baltic through the pillars of Hercules into the 
Mediterranean, it is quite impossible that Herodotus should 
have expressed so plainly his doubts, not only concerning a 
northern Eridanus, but even concerning a northern sea. 
What we know for certain is, that in the age of Herodotus 
amber came by land from the Hyperborean nations on the 
Baltic ; that it was found on the banks of a river Eridanus, 
which flowed into that sea ; and that it entered, as a mys- 
terious object of nature, into the mythology of the Hyper- 
borean sun worshippers. That the Hyperboreans paid 
adoration to the sun, we learn among other authorities 



252 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

from Cicero, who says that the principal Apollo, the son of 
Jupiter and Latona, was an Hyperborean : Apollo, Jove 
natus et Latona, quem ex Hyperboreis Delphos ferunt 
advenisse (de Nat. Deor. iii. 23). The fall of Phaeton, 
the child of the sun, into the Eridanus, — the lamentation 
for him by the Heliades, — and the conversion of their tears 
into amber, constitute a legend which can meet with a 
union of all its particulars only on the south-east angle of 
the Baltic, where we learn from Herodotus that there was 
an Eridanus; where we know that amber abounded from 
the earliest ages ; and where the ancient inhabitants were 
sun worshippers : in this very country, as if to leave no room 
for doubt, amber is yet plentifully found ; we meet with a 
river Radaune ; and the present inhabitants on the Curische 
Haf still call themselves Cures, which name is a vestige of 
their ancient heathenism in paying adoration to the sun. 

According to Muller (vol. i. p. 284), Electron, in the 
sense of amber, occurs in Homer : the legend of Eridanus 
and the Heliades is found in Hesiod ; and he thinks that 
the land passage from the Baltic, which was frequented in 
the days of Herodotus, was already open in the time of 
Homer. His conclusion is, that even in the Homeric age 
amber passed through various German tribes to the Tus- 
cans in Upper Italy, and, through the hands of the Tuscans, 
into Greece. 

From vestiges of the Curete name still existing in those 
parts, and from the high value which was anciently set 
upon amber, I am inclined to believe that the insured Her- 
cules' way which passed out of Italy over the Alps, led, at 
least in one of its branches, to the south-east corner of tlie 
Baltic. The Hamite Pelasgians, who settled on those 
nortliern shores, seem to have acquired the title of Hyper- 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 253 

boreans, and established among the Prussians and Cour- 
landers the Curete name and worship : but they also 
pointed out to these northern descendants of Japhet the 
way into fruitful Italy ; and the Old Prussians, under the 
name of Sabines, introduced some of their own supersti- 
tions, customs, and languages, among the inhabitants of 
Rome. It is well known that the Latins were much 
indebted to the Sabines for their religious and social cus- 
toms; or, in plainer terms, that the conquering Sabines 
forced their religion and usages on the subjugated people : 
Sabinorum etiam mores populum Roman um secutum, idem 
Cato dicit (Serv. in ^n. viii. 638). I shall now point out 
some Roman customs which were confessedly derived from 
the Sabines, and which coincide with remaining usages of 
the Lithuanian family. 

Among the heathen every race of people held some par- 
ticular animal in especial veneration. Tacitus informs us 
that the boar was thus distinguished by the -^stii : insigne 
superstitionis, formas aprorum gestant. Among the Sabines, 
the wolf was held sacred ; one of their tribes, having been 
led to its settlement under the supernatural guidance of this 
animal, was from it surnamed Hirpini ; for in the language 
of the Sabines the wolf is called Hirpus. The Roman cus- 
tom of anointing the door-posts of the bride with wolf's fat 
was taken from the Sabines, and originated in the sacred 
character which that animal possessed among them. The 
same creature holds also a conspicuous place in one of the 
oldest Roman legends ; for a she-wolf is represented to 
have undertaken the office of foster-mother to the exposed 
twins. 

Now it could hardly be expected that any race of men, 
at the present day, should look upon the destructive wolf 



254 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

with religious veneration; yet vestiges of the ancient re- 
gard for this animal have been preserved among the Lettons 
and Cour landers, in perhaps the only way that it could pos- 
sibly be done. In these countries, according to Malte Brun, 
hares, foxes, bears, and wolves frequent the forests and 
brushwood ; but the last animal is the most common and 
the most destructive of any : yet it is a singular supersti- 
tious belief of the country people, that, if a hare or a fox 
passes the road on which a man is travelling, some disaster 
is about to happen ; but if a wolf crosses him, it is a sign 
of good fortune (Malte Brun, vol. vi. p. 517. 533). 

The Roman marriage ceremonial was adopted from the 
Sabines. The rape of thirty Sabine women, in the fourth 
month of the first year of the city, and before it was forti- 
fied, in order to obtain wives for the new colony of Romulus, 
is perhaps too inconsistent to keep its place in actual his- 
tory ' : as a poetical legend it has been variously explained ; 
but I prefer that interpretation which considers it as a later 
attempt to ground upon an historical fact the Sabine cus- 
tom of carrying off the bride from her father's house with 
the appearance of force. This custom is still followed among 
the Courlanders, Lettons, and Lithuanians. On the morn- 
ing of the marriage the lady conceals herself to the best of 
her power, and the bridegroom, with the assistance of his 
friends, comes to the search, and at last carries off, in the 
manner of a triumph, the seemingly reluctant bride : the 
procession of young men with drawn swords gave an appear- 
ance of reality to the mimic assault (Essai Critique, vol. iii. 
p. 113). The ancient marriage ceremonies of the Samo- 
gitians, Courlanders, Lithuanians, and Prussians, and some 

^ Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 225. 286. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 255 

Other of their ceremonies, says Malte Brun (vol. vi. p. 605), 
were not unlike those of the Greeks and Romans. Two 
friends of the bridegroom carried away the seemingly reluc- 
tant bride from her father's house, &c. 

The condition of wives among the Sabines must have 
been very favourable at the time when the bride could 
address her mate, on first passing his threshold, with this 
customary formula : Ubi tu Gains, ego Gaia. The Sabine 
word gains, though still existing in the Lettish gows, was 
soon lost from the Latin language : Hesychius, and the 
author of the Etymologicum Magnum, have explained it 
by £^yaTr\Q jSoucj ^ labouring steer ; and this meaning can 
now be authenticated by means of Comparative Philology. 
The Sanskrit word go, in the masculine signifies a steer; 
and in the feminine, cow and earth. From this root the 
Greeks have formed distinct words for the two meanings, 
yr], earth ; and jSovc? ox : the same takes place in Zend, 
but with an opposite change of letters : zao, earth ; gaus 
and gaos, steer (Bopp, Comp. Gram. p. 145). The word 
gains is evidently derived from the same source as the 
Sabine word nero, a brave man ; which is cognate with the 
Sanskrit narah, and Zend nairya. These two instances, 
Gaius and Nero, would lead us to suppose that most of the 
old Roman names are significant, and that we must look 
for their explanation in the older languages, Sanskrit, 
Zend, &c. 

Among the Sabines we find mention of a god, Semo 
Sancus, and of a corresponding goddess, Salus Semonia, or 
Segetia. Semonia is the classical form of the feminine of 
Semo, which, in the original rude orthography of the Sa- 
bines, was probably Semiene : we know historically that 
Neriene (bravery, heroism,) was a feminine derivative of 

12 



256 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

the Sabine word Nero, and that it was the name of the 
Sabine goddess of war, the wife of Mamers, or Mars*. 
The Salus Semonia of the Sabines corresponds exactly in 
name and attributes with Zemiennick, a deity of the Prus- 
sians ; for I conceive that the root of these two terms was 
the same : Zend, zao, earth — dat. zeme ; Lettish and Old 
Prussian, semme ; Sclavonian, zemie; Lithuanian, zieme *. 
" The Lettons and Prussians had another deity whom they 
called Zemiennick, to whom, annually in October, they 
sacrificed a sow, a cock, a goose, and a calf, repeating, ' We 
give thee thanks, O Zemiennick, and offer up in sacrifice 
these animals, for that thou hast preserved us in health and 
safety through the past year, and hast blessed us with abun- 
dance of all things.' " Nous te rendons grace, O Zemien- 
nick, et foffrons ces animaux, pour que tu nous conserves 
sains et sauf pendant cet annce, et nous procures abondance 
de toutes choses (Essai Critique, vol. i. p. 38). 

In Lettish, the word Mani signifies delusion, juggling: 
manit, ap-manit, to delude, to juggle; and among tlie Let- 
tons, the Mani are malicious spirits which delight in doing 
men a mischief, by creating delusion. Pott thinks that 
these Mani, or sprites of the Lettons, have not the most 
distant relationship witli the Roman Manes ; but that the 
word may be cognate with the Sanskrit maja, illusion, 
idealism, unreality of all worldly existence (vol. ii. p. 601). 
It, however, appears, that in Roman nurseries the name of 



* Neriene Sabinum verbum est, eoque significatur virtus et fortitudo; qui 
erat egregia atque praestanti fortitudine ' Nero' appellatus est. Aul. Gell. 
xiii. 21 . 

* Besides Semo, Semonia, the root of the Sabine words nero, nerifne, 
appears to have been in use among the Old Prussians, as is shown by the 
name Curische Nerung on the Curische Haf. See Part ii. ch. ii. [In these 
passages I had overlooked the German nehrung.^ 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 257 

certain goblins, or bugbears, was in frequent requisition 
among the old women to keep their little charge in order : 
these spectres were called Manise, and were at the least 
first cousins of the Manes. Festus thus describes them: 
Manise turpes deformesque personse : Manias, quas nutrices 
minitantur pueris parvulis, esse larvas id est Manes dicit 
^lius Stilo. 

Again : Pott observes that the words rumen, ruma, in 
the sense of throat or swallow, appear to be connected with 
ruminare {epevyeiv, ructare) ; but, as meaning dug, they 
are perhaps related to the Lithuanian raumu, gen. raumens, 
dug, udder. With respect to the Ruminalis ficus, the 
ruma (mamma) lupse, Roma, Romulus, it is at least cer- 
tain that all these words are classed together in the mythi- 
cal history of Rome (vol. ii. p. 284). Festus, under the 
word Ruminalis, informs us that rumis was an ancient term 
for mamma; and that the rustics in his day still called 
sucking kids subrummos : qui adhuc sub mammis habentur. 
And under the word Romulus, he tells us that this name 
was derived by some from the ficus ruminalis, and, by 
others, from the circumstance of his being nourished by the 
dugs of a wolf : quod lupse ruma nutritus est. Since the 
word ruminalis, and the goddess Rumina, are derived from 
rumis or ruma, it is evident that the letter n forms a part 
of the root ; and that the Sabine ruma, and the Lithuanian 
raumu, gen. raumens, are the same word. 

Quirinus was worshipped at Rome as a deified hero 
among the Sabines; and the high priest of the Old Prus- 
sians resided at Romowo, in Prussia, with the title of 
Kriwe. " The chief of their priests, who had the official 
designation of Kriwe, held his residence at Romowo, in 

s 



258 ON THE ORIGIN OF THK SABINES. 

Prussia. Boleslas Chrabi having destroyed Romowo in 
the eleventh century, the Kriwe removed his abode to the 
interior of Lithuania. Allups, the last Kriwe, embraced 
Christianity at the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
asserting that his gods counselled him to it, because they 
were no longer able to protect him. It was the duty of the 
Kriwe to declare the will of the gods by oracular responses, 
and to give sentence in any disputes among the chiefs of 
the nation. The office was elective among the priests ; and 
it was the custom for him to anticipate the infirmities of 
extreme old age by a voluntary death on a funeral pile." 
Le chef de leur pretres, qui s'appelloit Kriwe, avoit sa 
residence a Romowo, en Prusse. II etoit elu par les pre- 
tres, et quand il etoit parvenu a une grande vieillesse, il 
terminoit ordinairement ses jours volontairement sur un 
bucher (Essai Critique, vol. i. p. 45). Though I would 
not lay any stress singly on the coincidence of all these 
names, yet, supported as it is by so many concurring cir- 
cumstances of language and customs, it certainly is not 
impossible that the titles Kri-we and Quiri-nus may have 
an affinity ; and that the voluntary death by fire may be in 
some manner connected with the disappearance of Romulus 
in a fiery chariot, and his subsequent manifestation as the 
sun-god Quirinus. 

The situation of Romowo is not precisely known : Make 
Brun places it in the ancient and central pro^dnce of Na- 
tangia, on the south of the Pregel (vol. vii. p. *2) ; at any 
rate it lay within the limits of the amber country, with 
which the Hyperboreans are traditionally connected. " This 
people were esteemed very sacred ; and it is said that 
Apollo, when exiled from heaven, and when he had seen 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 259 

his offspring slain, retired to tliis country. It seems he 
wept; and there was a tradition that every tear was 
amber. 

" The Celtic sages a tradition hold. 
That every drop of amber was a tear 
Shed by Apollo, when he fled from heaven ; 
For sorely did he weep, and, sorrowing, passed 
Through many a doleful region, till he reached 
The sacred Hyperboreans*'."— Apollon. Rhod. iv. 611. 

Now according to Niebuhr (vol. i. p. 85), " there was 
an obscure conception that Rome itself was in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Hyperboreans (Heraclides in Plutarch 
Camill. c. xxii.) ;" but, instead of looking for another Rome 
in the North, he has taken the opposite course of placing 
the Hyperboreans in Italy. It appears to myself, how- 
ever, much more reasonable to suppose that, in primeval 
times, a town Roma, or Romowe, existed in some part of 
the northern regions, than that the Hyperboreans, without 
any shadow of reason, should be dragged southward into 
Italy. The Sabine city. Cures, assuredly derived its name 
from the same root as the Cures and Curische Haf on the 
Baltic; and there is an equally probable chance that the 
same relation existed between the Italian Roma and the 
Baltic Romowe. " That Roma is not a Latin name," says 
Niebuhr (vol. i. p. 282), " was assumed to be self-evident; 
and there can be no doubt that the city had another, of an 
Italian form, which was used in the sacred books like the 
mysterious name of the Tiber." Romani ipsius urbis 
nomen Latinum ignotum esse voluerunt (Macrobius, 
iii. 9). 

6 Bryant, vol. v. p. 151 

s2 



2G0 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

Dionysius (ii. 50), in recounting some of the Sabine 
deities, concludes with an " et csetera," because it was 
difficult to express the names of the Roman gods in the 
Greek tongue ; but if the Sabines were related to the pri- 
mitive Prussians, and if the Tuscans were a cojony from 
Edom, it is quite impossible that the Roman mythology 
should be identical with the Grecian, or even have much 
in common with it ; and this is the conclusion of the most 
learned philologists and antiquarians, though on very dif- 
ferent grounds from those I have mentioned. " It is a 
most perverse proceeding," says Pott, " to which, how- 
ever, we are broken in from our youth, to identify a num- 
ber of home-sprung Italian deities with others of Greek 
origin. Italy is indebted to Greece for many things, and 
among them certainly for a few of her deities ; but it was 
a much more frequent case that the Latin poets adopted 
only as materials for poetry, what never formed a part of 
the popular belief. Of many gods, the fundamental idea 
was borrowed as little as the name ; but a motley addition 
of foreign attributes was ornamentally attached to native 
deities. Italy possesses no Olympus, — has little or no 
poetry in her mythology ; therefore with respect to such 
deities as Saturn, Jupiter, Juno, Ceres, Diana, Liber, 
Venus, Mars, Neptune, Vulcan, Mercury, &c., which are 
characterized by native names having no affinity with 
Greek, the Romans of every period formed notions essen- 
tially different from those which the Greeks connected with 
the so-called corresponding deities. It was the work of a 
comparatively recent period, to bring together and run a 
parallel between the Greek and Roman mythologies ; and, 
although this proceeding in the course of time may have 
had a slight effect on the religious belief of the people, it 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 261 

was principally confined to the poetical creed of the edu- 
cated Romans, just as the Scandinavian gods have been 
introduced into German literature by the poet Klopstock, 
as a delightful play of the imagination without any faith 
in their actual existence. To a Roman, the genuine Greek 
deities were — a phantom; they suited not his soil, his 
style of life, his feelings. On the whole, Rome received 
her religion from any quarter, rather than from Greece. 
The proof lies in many other points (compare Hegel, 
Philosophy of Religion, Part ii. p. 132), but also in the 
names of her gods. Some as Jovis, Jupiter, Juno, Janus, 
Diana, Vesta, are etymologically related to the Greek; 
but, as every one who has eyes can see, they were not 
borrowed ; the greater part of them were completely dif- 
ferent. Only a few appear to have been a translation 
from the Greek, as Dis for UXovTtov. Some others are 
actually borrowed and disfigured out of Greek forms ; thus 
Hercules, Pan, Proserpina, Bacchus, x\pollo, Pollux, &c. 
have nothing Roman about them, and betray their foreign 
origin under their disguise" (vol. ii. p. 32). 

But even those Roman deities which are allowed to be 
common with the Greek, and derived from them, I suspect 
to have been rather an independent legacy bequeathed to 
these two Indo-European races by the previous Hamite 
Pelasgians. In one of the instances mentioned by Pott, 
viz., the Hamite Hercules, we possess a genuine Hamite 
form in the Tuscan Hercle ; and I conceive, that the name 
is at least as much borrowed and disfigured in the Grecian 
form of Heracles, as in that of the Roman Hercules. 

It has now become a difficult task to distinguish accu- 
rately between the deities of the Indo-European Sabines 
and those of the Hamite Pelasgians and Tuscans; and 



262 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

many authors have occupied themselves, in an attempt to 
illustrate some evidently Hamite names by means of the 
rarer Indo-European languages, and particularly the San- 
skrit. Notwithstanding the tempting similarity between 
Janus and the Latin words, janua, janitor, &c., we may be 
certain, that Janus was an Eastern Hamite deity, and for 
other reasons than merely his monstrous form. He is said 
to have come originally from Thessaly, a principal seat of 
the Pelasgians; and Ovid (Fasti, i. 240.) points to the 
ship on the reverse of the Roman As, as implying the 
arrival by sea, and therefore foreign origin, of Janus who 
occupied the obverse of the coin : — 

At bona posteritas puppim servavit in aere, 
Hospitis adventum testificata Dei. 

Niebuhr supposes, that the profane sciences of Etruria 
were brought by the nation from the North, the seat of the 
gods (vol. i. p. 134); and his followers consider this cir- 
cumstance, that the Tuscans believed the North to be the 
seat of their gods, as a strong confirmation of Niebuhr's 
hypothesis of the northern origin of the Tuscans. Now 
the whole of this reasoning rests upon a fragment of Varro, 
preserved by Festus under the word sinistrae aves, in which 
he explains the reason why sinista- or eastern auspices, are 
of better omen than the dexter or western : a deorum sede 
cum in meridiem spectes, ad sinistram sunt partes mundi 
exorientes, &c. But divination by the flight of birds, was 
the peculiar art of the Sabines ; a fact, which Niebuhr him- 
self has noticed. He says : " By the East, the decrees of 
destiny were read in the stars ; by Etruria and Greece, in 
the entrails of victims. In expounding the flight of birds, 
if the Etruscans did not altogether neglect it, the Sabines 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 263 

were greater masters ; but the peculiar secret of the Etrus- 
cans was the interpretation of lightning" (vol. i. p. 137). 
The passage of Varro, therefore, if it prove any thing, 
proves, that the Sabines believed the North to be the seat 
of their gods, and points to the northern origin of the 
Sabine nation. 

Ancient authors have stated, and modern writers have 
repeated, that a spear (curis) stuck in the ground, was the 
chief object of veneration to the primitive rude Sabines; 
whereas the fact is, that the Sabines, as Curetes, were 
sun-worshippers, and belonged to that class of nations 
which did not conceive of their deities under material forms. 
The Tuscans were the first to introduce this grosser mode 
of worship into Rome. " The rites of religion," says Nie- 
buhr, " which till then had been plain and simple, were 
clothed with splendour under Tarquin ,* in his reign, bloody 
sacrifices are said to have been introduced, and adoration to 
have been first paid to representations of the gods under 
human forms" (vol. i. p. 357). 

As the Romans received most of their religious ideas 
from the Old Prussians and Edomites, it followed as a 
natural consequence, that their mythology was essentially 
distinct from that of the Greeks ; but the same cause would 
necessarily act in producing as great a difference between 
the laws of the two countries. The Romans themselves, 
however, were pleased to claim a Grecian origin for their 
civil code, as well as for their mythology. Every one has 
read in Roman History, that three senators were commis- 
sioned to go to Athens, in order to collect the best of the 
Grecian laws, v/hen the Romans wished to revise their own 
code ; and that the Twelve Tables were published by the 
Decemvirs, as the fruits of that commission. Although a 



264 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

mere comparison of the two codes was suflBcient to expose 
the groundlessness of this statement, yet Vico was the first 
to question the truth of it ; he has shown, that the Twelve 
Tables were of Italian origin, and quite contrary to the 
Grecian mode of life (Micali, vol. ii. p. 90). Niebuhr 
states, that if this question were to be decided by the rela- 
tion between the Attic civil law, and that of the Twelve 
Tables, it would be necessary to suppose, that the name of 
Athens had been thrust in by later writers ; for in whatever 
is essential and characteristic, with regard to personal 
rights, and to all the forms of legal acts, and judicial pro- 
ceedings, the two codes have not the slightest resemblance 
(vol. ii. p. 303). 

The Sabines, in their earlier seats of Prussia and Cour- 
land, were brought into a peaceful or warlike contact w4th 
the Erse Celts ; and it would appear, that the same rela- 
tions were kept up by the two nations within the territory 
of Italy itself. Servius has preserved a tradition, that 
Pisae in Etruria was founded by Pisus, king of the Celts, 
and son of the Hyperborean Apollo, at the conclusion of a 
war with the Samnites ; Alii Pisum, Celtarum regem, 
fuisse Apollinis Hyperborei filium, et cum Samnitibus 
bellum gessisse, a quorum regiiiii, quje post conjugis 
mortem imperio successerat, receptum, in Etruria oppidura 
suo nomine (Pisje) condidisse (Servius in JEn, x. 179). 
Many marks of affinity, in languages and customs, can be 
pointed out between the primitive Erse Celts, and the 
Sabines or Romans. Besides the general resemblance of 
character in the preference of certain letters, as s for A, and 
qu ork for jo, as illustrated in Part ii. ch. 4, some particular 
words in Sabine and Erse exhibit a very close affinit)': 
Erse, near; Sab. noro. man; Erse, geo; Sab. gains: 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 265 

Lett, gows, ox; Erse, righ; O. Pr. rikys, rex; Erse, 
gean ; O. Pr. genna, woman ; Erse, garam ; O. Pr. garre- 
wingi, warm ; Erse, sean ; Lith. senas, senex. 

We have seen that Pisus, king of the Celts, was the son 
of the Hyperborean Apollo; the Baltic Celts, therefore, 
were Hyperborean sun-worshippers. According to Val- 
lancey, the chief deity of the heathen Irish was Beal, the 
sun ; but the moon, stars, and wind, received also a lower 
kind of veneration. The month of May is to this day 
named Mi Beal teiiine, that is, the month of BeaPs fire ; 
and the first day of May is called, La Beal teinne, that is, 
the day of Beal's fire. These fires were lighted on the 
summits of hills, in honour of the sun ; and many of them 
still retain the name of Cnoc-greine, that is, the hill of the 
sun'. 

By what chance has it come to pass (says a native writer 
of Lithuania), that one of our popular songs should men- 
tion a mode of gathering the clans in defence of their 
country, which is exactly similar to that described by Sir 
Walter Scott in the Lady of the Lake ? and how is it that 
the very word clan, in the sense of tribe, should occur in 
our language? These are enigmas which can be solved 
only by conjectures more or less exceptionable, and which 
we must leave for the consideration of antiquarians '. 

It is a very common, and perhaps, reasonable belief, 
that kindred tribes of Celtic origin constituted the first 
inhabitants of Italy and Greece, and that the Pelasgians 
arrived by sea among them with some great improvements 
in the arts of civilization. This state of things was perhaps 
disturbed in Greece by the arrival of new tribes, which 

7 Essay on the Irish Language. 

8 La Lithuanie par Michael Pietkiewicz, p. vii. 



266 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

bore marks of affinity with the Old High or Perso-Ger- 
mans, and certainly belonged to the so called Perso-Euro- 
pean class ; or the Greek language may have acquired its 
great similarity to Welsh principally at the time, and in 
consequence of the eruption of the Perso-Grpcian con- 
querors, who completely modified the original dialect, and 
infused the great number of Perso-Celtic forms which we 
now discover in classical Greek. 

With respect to Italy, it is quite clear, that the Sabines 
formed a very distinguishable element in its population ; 
at a very early period they appear as conquerors who 
modified greatly the previous language and customs of 
Rome, but confirmed the Medo-European character which 
we now observe to be so strongly impressed on Latin. 
To the Sabine conquest is entirely due the introduction 
of the whizzing sound, which Quintilian attributes to the 
letter f^ and which has caused some perplexity to modern 
philologists. The union of the Old Prussian ISabines with 
the Medo-Grecians of Itiily, has been the cause that two 
distinct sounds were represented in Latin by the letter Z'; 
the first belonging to the Medo- Grecian dialect ', which 
is, therefore, common both to Latin and Greek, as in fero, 
^«|ow ; fama, <^r\\i^ ; fagus, (pr^yog ; fallo, fari, fascis, frater, 
frigo, fucus, fugio, fui, fulgeo, fur (Muller, voL i. p. 20): 
the other peculiar to Latin, which was derived through the 
Sabines from the Old Prussian and kindred dialects. This 
latter sound off, which I have already described as equiva- 
lent to the Sclavonian sv or zw (Part ii. ch. i.), occurs only 
in the Sabine portion of Latin, tliat is, in words which 

9 Compare Bopp, p. 17- Skr. b'ar, ^tpw, fero; Skr. b'u ; fv-u, fu-i ; 
therefore, Skr. b'umi, and Lat. humi, are not related. See the nest note, 
and Pott, p. 142. 217- 

12 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 267 

generally have no analogous forms in Greek. Muller 
observes that, in Sabine and Old Latin, many words were 
written with an /which was subsequently changed into an 
h ; and that, as far as he knows, all such words are quite 
foreign to the Greek language. The following is the list 
which he has collected from the old grammarians, Varro, 
Festus, Servius, &c. : fariolus, fasena, fedus, fircus, folus 
(holus, olus), fordeum, fostis, fostia, forctis (fortis, horctis), 
vefo, trafo (Muller, vol. i. p. 44). 

The Latin olus, and Sabine folus, are thus illustrated by 
Pott, under the Sanskrit root hari, green ; Lat. ol-us and 
olescere, for hol-us, hel-us, and fol-us; Lith. ap-zelu, 
viresco, zalias, green ; zole, grass, vegetation ; Lett, sel-t, 
to be green, sale grass, salsh, green ; Serv. zelen, green ; 
Scl. zelie, olus, zlak, herba (vol. i. p. 141). Compare ob- 
soleo, ob-solesco, to grow out of use, to decay. To these 
may be added the Old Prussian salin " herb of the field,'' 
from Vater. As the word sali occurs in the Carmen Fra- 
trum Arvalium, where it can hardly have the meaning of 
salt or sea, I would suggest, it may be connected with the 
above series of words in the general sense of crops ; and 
that the words, satur fufere Mars lumen sali, are an invoca- 
tion of Mars or Quirinus, the sun-god of the Sabines, con- 
cerning the sunshine on their crops : — 

Enos Lases juvate 
Neve luenie(m) Marraar Sins incurrere 
in Pleores satur fufere Mars lumen sali. 

" Ye Lares, help us : neither let pestilence O Mamers, 
attack the people ; [and let] sufficient sunshine be to our 
crops, O Mars." 

To Muller's examples, I would add the Sabine irpus, 



268 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 

hirpus, a wolf, which in the original orthography, must have 
been firpus, that is, svirpus : compare the Skr. varkas, and 
Z. vehrkas. Bopp gives the declension of the word wolf 
in all the languages, which his Comparative Grammar 
embraces; and he remarks, that the whole series, Skr. 
varkas, Z. vehrkas, Gr. Xukocj Lat. lupus, Lith. wilkas, 
Goth, vulfs, presents only modifications of the same root. 
The affinity of the Lith. wilkas, to Skr. varkas, rests upon 
the common interchange of the half vowels r and /, the 
latter of which ( I) runs through the whole of the European 
sister languages. The Gothic, vulfs, shows the common 
change between gutturals and labials, and has an aspirate 
for a tenuis, according to Grimm's law. In Latin also, the 
labial has replaced the guttural ; but lupus is still farther 
corrupted by the loss of the v sound, as in the Greek 
\vKoq. It is possible, however, that this v in its change 
to the vowel m, has been driven more into the middle of 
the word ; whilst, therefore, in the Lith. wilkas, the letters 
/ and k have preserved their close position, they have been 
separated in Greek by the intervention of u (p. 293). Of 
these two suppositions concerning the Latin and Greek 
terms, namely, either that the v has been entirely lost, or 
changed into a vowel ii, I conceive that the former is the 
true one, and that an initial consonant has been entirely 
dropped. I rest my opinion on the Albanian form oulk, 
and on the following parallel case: the Skr. dirg'as (long), 
and the Z. dareg'as, by a similar interchange of / and r, 
become in Scl. dolgui, in Gr. §oXf\oc : but by the total 
loss of the initial consonant, we have in Lith. and O. Pr., 
ilgas for the Skr. dirg'as ; and this O. Pr. ilgas, bears the 
same relation to the Lat. longus, that irpus does to lupus '". 

'" The derivation of the word homo has perplexed philologists. I propose 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 269 

In addition to the sibilant sound of yj the guttural quy 
with the sound of A, must have been introduced into the 
language of Rome by the Sabines, as we may infer from 
the Sabine names Quirinus, Quirites; and from the Old 
Prussian words kas, quai, ka — plur. quoi, quai ; quoitamai, 
quoiteti, quoite — we, you, they will. 

Niebuhr has remarked : It cannot be mere chance that 
the words for a house, a field, a plough, ploughing, wine, 
oil, milk, kine, swine, sheep, apples, and others relating to 
agriculture and gentler ways of life, should agree in Latin 
and Greek ; while the Latin words for all objects pertain- 
ing to war or the chase are utterly alien from the Greek 
(vol. i. p. 82). This circumstance is thought to imply that 
in Italy a pastoral people, related to the primitive Greeks, 
were subdued by the irruption of a more warlike tribe who 
had no affinity with the Greek (MuUer, vol. i. 16) ; and it 
certainly is remarkable that the Sabines, who advanced 
from the North and conquered the previous inhabitants of 
Latium, are said to have introduced their mode and terms 
of warfare : Majores nostri arma atque tela militaria a 
Samnitibus sumpserunt (Csesar ap. Sallust. Catil. 51). 

A similar phenomenon occurs in English, which is to be 
explained in the same manner. Words expressing the 

that of ho-min{is), hu'man{us), the good thinker, the well-disposed, from hu 
bene, and the verbal root, man, min, &c, to think. Compare the Zend ho- 
kerefs, having a beautiful body, hu-g'iti, leading a good life. In Skr. su-tanu 
signifies a woman ; literally, having a beautiful person, a beauty : the same 
in Persian, o-ravriQ, Herod, iii. 68 ; in Persian, hu-ner (virtus) ; Skr. su- 
narah (bonus vir). Pott, vol. i. p. xxxv. This derivation of homo seems con- 
trary to the law of change ; but if the h stands for an original/, i. e. z or *, 
then homines, hemones, become somines, semones : Compare Lith. zmones ; 
O. Pr. smunents (homines), smunint, to act humanely, to honour parents. 
We have seen that the original form of veho was vefo, i. e. vezo (Part ii. ch. i.). 
Also, if /i stands for z in humus, then it is related to Lith. zeme ; O. Pr. 
semme, earth, and not to Skr. b'umi. 



270 ON THE ORITxIN OF THE SABINES. 

objects of rural and laborious life are almost all of Saxon 
origin : the Norman conquerors having introduced such 
phrases only as relate to dominion and high life. It is well 
known that the names of many animals in the English 
language are of German origin ; whilst the flesh of the 
same animals, when prepared for food, is expressed in 
terms derived from the French. In consequence of this 
fact, it has been humourously asserted that the poor Saxons 
had to rear the cattle, but that their Norman conquerors ate 
the meat. It is, however, not unreasonable to suppose that 
the Norman warriors troubled themselves but little in tend- 
ing the Saxon ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine, provided only that 
the fattened carcase supplied to their tables good Norman 
heef, veal, mutton, pork ; and that therefore the Saxon names 
of the former might remain current in England, whilst the 
Saxon names of the latter were replaced by others of Nor- 
man extraction. If the history of the Norman conquest had 
perished from our annals, Philology would have supplied us 
with most convincing proofs of the main fact itself. The 
following passage relating to the subject here discussed, is 
taken from the Preface of an old English Grammar : Nee 
quidem temere contigisse puto, quod animalia viva nomini- 
bus Germanicae originis vocemus, quorum tamen carnem 
in cibum paratam originis Gallic* nominibus appellamus; 
puta, bovem, vaccam, vitulum, ovem, porcum, aprum, 
feram, &c., an ox, a cow, a calf, a sheep, a hog, a boar, a 
deer, &c. : sed carnem bubulam, vitulinam, ovinam, porci- 
nam, aprugnam, ferinam, — beef, veal, mutton, pork, brawn, 
venison, &c. Sed hinc id ortum putaverira, quod Nor- 
manni milites pascuis, caulis, haris, locisque quibus \'ivorum 
animalium cura agebatur, parcius se immiscuerint (quae 
itaque antiqua nomina retinuerunt), quam macellis, culi- 



ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SABINES. 271 

nis, meiisis, epulis, ubi vel parabantur vel habebaiitur cibi, 
qui itaque nova nomina ab illis sunt adepti (Dr. Wallis's 
Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae, 1653). 

The peace of the seven hills was first disturbed within 
the historical period, by the invasion of the Baltic Sabines ; 
the conquest, however, was not effected by a direct and 
rapid march upon Rome. The invaders, during their gra- 
dual passage from the North, had made a permanent settle- 
ment in Italy, and built Cures, their capital, long before 
they came in contact with the natives of Latium ; the Sa- 
bines encroaching still farther, at last subdued the Latins, 
and established their own reliction and customs in Rome. 
When quiet was restored after this revolution, the united 
Sabines and Latins lived during a long period in perfect 
harmony, as is implied by the combined name Populus 
Romanus Quirites, and by the election of the first four 
kings alternately from Latin and Sabine families. 

The last three kings were Tuscans. Under this new 
dynasty, of an entirely different origin, Rome was raised 
to a high pitch of glory and power through the application 
of the superior science of the East. All the architectural 
works which have excited such general wonder and asto- 
nishment are attributed to the Tarquins. " Thus did Rome 
build when governed by Etruscan kings : after she became 
free, all great works were at a stand until the republic had 
grown rich by its victories and conquests ; and, when com- 
pared with her oldest works and with those of the Etruscan 
cities, the buildings of imperial Rome make but an incon- 
siderable figure" (Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 127). 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX 



HEBREW HAMITE NOT SEMITIC: THREE KINDS OF LAN- 
GUAGES: CONFUSION OF TONGUES AT BABEL: LAN- 
GUAGE NOT A HUMAN INVENTION. 

The original object of this work was to illustrate the 
affinity of the Indo-European languages ; but as the latter 
portion of it has been unexpectedly taken up with the 
consideration of various Hamite idioms, it has become 
worth while to give, in an appendix, a general sketch of 
the whole Hamite class ; and I shall take occasion to add 
some remarks which arise out of the general subject, but 
which could not very well be introduced elsewhere. 

Among Piiilologists the Hebrew and allied dialects have 
been included under the general name of Semitic, because 
Hebrew itself was the language of the Israelites, the 
descendants of Shem ; but this arrangement is plainly ob- 
jectionable from the circumstance, that the Canaanitish or 
Punic idiom, an acknowledged Hamite dialect, evinces a 
close affinity with Hebrew. Mr. Beke, in his " Origines 
Biblicse," was the first to place this obvious inconsistency 

t2 



276 APPENDIX. 

in its proper light, and to meet the difficulty by classify- 
ing the Hebrew with the other acknowledged dialects of 
Ham. 

He says : My reasons for attributing a Mitzrite, and 
therefore Hamitish, origin to the so-called Semitic lan- 
guages, are as follows : When the Almighty, for his own 
good purposes, was pleased to call Abraham from his native 
country — the land of the Arphaxadites or Chaldees — first 
into the country of Aram, and afterwards into that of 
Canaan, one of two things must necessarily have had place ; 
either that the inhabitants of these latter countries spoke 
the same language as himself, or else that he acquired the 
knowledge of the foreign tongues spoken by these people 
during his residence in the countries in which they were 
vernacular. That they all made use of the same language 
cannot be imagined. Even if it be assumed that the de- 
scendants of Arphaxad, Abraham's ancestor, and the Arara- 
ites, in whose territories Terah and his family first took up 
their residence, spoke the same language, or, at the furthest, 
merely dialects of the same original Shemitish tongue, we 
cannot suppose that this language would have resembled 
those which were spoken by the Hamitish Canaanites and 
Philistines, in whose countries Abraham afterwards so- 
journed, unless we at the same time contend that the con- 
fusion of tongues at Babel was practically inoperative ; 
we have no alternative, therefore, as it would seem, but to 
consider (as, in fact, is the plain and obvious interpretation 
of the circumstances) that Abraham, having travelled from 
his native place (a distance of above five hundred miles) to 
" the south country," the land of the Philistines, where he 
" sojourned many days," he and his family would have 
acquired the language of the people amongst whom they 



APPENDIX. 277 

thus took up their residence. But, independently of the 
above arguments, how are we to explain the origin of the 
Arabic language ? This is clearly not of Aramitish deriva- 
tion : it is the language which was spoken by the country- 
men of Hagar, amongst whom Ishmael was taken by her 
to reside, and with whom he and his descendants speedily 
became mixed up and completely identified. Among these 
people it is not possible that the slightest portion of the 
Aramitish tongue of Abraham should have existed before 
the time of Ishmael; nor can it be conceived that the Mitz- 
ritish descendants of the latter would have acquired that 
language through him. I apprehend, indeed, that the Mitz- 
ritish origin of the Arabic language is a fact which cannot 
be disputed ; and, if this fact be conceded, there remains 
no alternative but to admit — indeed it is a mere truism to 
say — that the Hebrew, which is a cognate dialect with the 
x\rabic, must be of common origin with that language, and 
consequently, of Mitzritish derivation also. And, in truth, 
when we consider the subject dispassionately, and unbiassed 
by the assumptions (for they are nothing more) that the 
Hebrew tongue must necessarily be of Shemitish deriva- 
tion, because the Israelites who spoke it were descended 
paternally from Shem ; and that it possesses a peculiar cha- 
racter on account of its having been chosen by the Almighty 
as the medium through which his law should be promul- 
gated : although there is no such peculiar sanctity or merit 
attributed to the Greek language, in which has been pre- 
served to us the Gospel " of a better covenant, which was 
established upon better promises :" we can have no difficulty 
in conceiving how a family like that of Jacob, going down 
to settle in a foreign country, and forming alliances with 
the inhabitants of that country, should, in the course of a 



278 APPENDIX. 

couple of centuries, have lost their own language, and have 
adopted that of the people amongst whom they had become 
domiciled. It may be remarked in illustration, that the 
French Huguenots who came over into England about the 
year 1685, in consequence of the revocation of the edict of 
Nantes, and by whom a sort of colony was formed in Spital- 
fields, have, in less than a century and a half, lost almost 
every thing derived from the country which they left, 
except their names (Beke*s Origines Biblicse, p. 230). 

In addition to the arguments adduced by Mr. Beke, to 
show that Hebrew was a Mitzrite dialect, I would observe 
that there appears to have been a peculiar fitness in the 
law of Jehovah being proclaimed to the nations at that 
period in a Hamite tongue. It has been often noticed as 
a providential dispensation, that the New Testament was 
written in Greek, which was a kind of universal language 
at the commencement of the Christian era ; and a similar 
reason seems to have led to the selection of Hebrew for the 
record of the Old Testament. It is most certain that Hamite 
dialects were in current use throughout the whole East in 
the first ages of the world ; and it is at least probable that 
the language of the first two universal empires, the Assyrian 
and Persian, was Hamite. In the West, also, the language 
of Ham was early made familiar by the daring enterprises 
of the Tyrians and Phenicians, and the numerous colonies 
from Egypt ; but if, in addition to these, the Pelasgians, 
Tyrrhenians, and Tuscans were of Hamite origin, the lan- 
guage of Ham must have been actually vernacular over a 
vast extent of country in the West. P>om the time of 
Moses, then, and during the existence of the first two em- 
pires when Hamite dialects were in vogue, a Hamite dialect 
would necessarily form the most general medium of com- 



APPENDIX. 279 

munication ; but when the seat of empire was removed to 
the West, and established among the Greeks and Romans 
where Japhite dialects now prevailed, a Japhite idiom 
became best adapted for that purpose, and accordingly 
Greek was selected for publishing abroad the new reve- 
lation. 

The most learned philologists of the present day, have 
included all known languages under three great classes or 
genera, which are distinguished from one another by 
strongly marked characters, 

(1). Languages composed of monosyllabic roots incapa- 
ble of composition, and, therefore, without any organisation, 
without any forms of grammar; to this class belong the 
Chinese idioms, in which we find nothing but naked roots, 
and in which the shades of meaning are determined not by 
grammatical relations, but by the position of words in a 
sentence. 

(2). Languages composed of monosyllabic roots, but 
capable of composition which gives rise to nearly the whole 
of their organisation and grammar ; to this family belongs 
the Indo-European class of languages, and all idioms not 
otherwise included under numbers 1 and 2, and of which 
the grammatical forms are still resolvable into their simplest 
elements. 

(3). Languages, whose verbal roots consist of two sylla- 
bles, and require three consonants for the expression of 
their fundamental meaning; this class is limited to the 
Semitic languages, and its grammatical structure is pro- 
duced, not only by composition after the manner of the 
second class, but also by a mere internal modification of the 
root (Comp. Gram. p. 112). In the same passage, Bopp 
quotes A. W. Von SchlegePs arrangement, which is to the 



280 APPENDIX. 

same purport: (1) les langues sans aucune structure 
grammaticale ; (2) les langues qui enaploient des aflSxes; 
(3) et les langues a inflexions. 

It is quite a common opinion, founded upon the most 
obvious meaning of Gen. x., that there are in the world 
three kinds of languages, which have been deduced re- 
spectively from the three sons of Noah. This general and 
popular idea coincides suflBciently, in a general way, with 
the scientific conclusions of philologists ; but when we come 
to particularize and arrange the various known idioms of 
the globe, we find ourselves completely at fault. The 
Indo-European languages indeed coincide closely with the 
Japhite class ; but if the Hebrew and related dialects con- 
stitute the Semitic family, the Hamite division can consist 
only of the Coptic, Sahidic, and other old Egyptian dia- 
lects ; for no one has ever thought of classifying the various 
Chinese idioms with the dialects of Ham. Thus a very 
important and essentially distinct family of languages is 
left entirely out of the account ; and the Scripture narra- 
tive is brought into collision with the deductions of science. 
But Mr. Beke has removed this difficulty, by simply re- 
ducing the so-called Semitic dialects, and the old Egyptian 
idioms, into one great Hamitish family ; he has thus set at 
liberty the term Semitic, to distinguish the Chinese division 
of languages, and he has the merit of reconciling Philology 
with Scripture to this extent. 

Having previously shown, at some length, in what man- 
ner tlie descendants of Shem overspread the extensive 
regions of China, he proposes the following classification of 
the three great families of languages : 

Under this view, the languages of the earth, like all the 
races of people among whom they are spoken, must be 



APPENDIX. 281 

reducible to three distinct groups; and from what has 
resulted from the philological researches of the present day, 
there is every reason to believe, that this will be the ulti- 
mate conclusion upon the subject. 

(1). The Japhthitish class (comprising the so-called Indo- 
Eurcpean family), — whether spoken by the descendants of 
" Gomer, and Magog, and Madai," in Eastern Asia, or by 
those of " Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras," in 
Asia Minor and Europe, — has been already sufficiently 
analysed, to admit of its rank being determined in the 
table of the languages of the earth. 

(2). The Hamitish class will consist : — of the Cushitish 
family of the languages of Upper Egypt and Central and 
Southern Africa; of the Mitzritish family of the Arabic, 
and its derivative, the Ethiopic of Abyssinia ; the language 
of Mitzraim Proper, and its representative, the Hebrew, 
with its two dialects, the Chaldee and Syriac ; and the 
Berber, and other native languages of the North of Africa ; 
and of the Canaanitish family, of which the only fragments 
still preserved, are the Phoenician significant proper names 
mentioned by Sanchoniatho, and the specimen of the Punic 
or Carthaginian language exhibited in one of the plays 
of Plautus. 

(*3). The Shemitish class of languages yet remains, 
which must be deemed to consist, generally, of the Chinese, 
the Polynesian languages of the South Seas, arid the 
Mexican, and other American dialects; with this class, 
however, philologists are confessedly far less acquainted 
than with either of the other two (p. 233). 



282 APPENDIX. 

Eichhorn's unhappy term " Semitic," has produced much 
confusion, and even led to grave error. Mr. Beke states : 
That the difficulty which has existed in accounting for the 
manifest resemblance between the so-called Semitic lan- 
guages, and the Hamitish dialects of Canaan and Phoenicia, 
has led even Mr. Conybeare to depart from the generally 
sound principles of criticism and interpretation which he 
has laid down, so far as to say, " There seems no good 
reason to ascribe diversities of language to the original 
ramifications of the Noachian family ; whether we ascribe 
that diversity to the dispersion of Babel, or, with many 
orthodox commentators, suppose the miracle then recorded, 
to have consisted rather in a temporary confusion of mind, 
producing as its effect, a corresponding confusion of ex- 
pression, rather than to any miraculous change in the per- 
manent dialects, and refer their subsequent diversities to 
the operation of gradual causes arising from long separa- 
tion, distant emigrations, and new associations, constantly 
modifying the simplicity of earlier language. Whichever 
of tliese views we may adopt, there seems no authority 
whatever for attributing distinct tongues to the immediate 
families of Noah's first descendants, rather than to subse- 
quent causes, which may have blended together in a course 
of common emigration, the members of diflferent Noachian 
houses." But, (continues Mr. Beke,) the idea of an abso- 
lute and permanent change of dialect, is more strictly in 
accordance with the literal meaning of the Scriptural 
account of the confusion of tongues, than the supposition, 
that the consequences of that miraculous occurrence were 
of a temporary nature only, and tliat the whole of tlie pre- 
sent diversities in the languages of the world, are to be 
referred to the gradual operation of subsequent causes. 

12 



APPENDIX. 283 

however necessary it may have been considered to qualify 
that literal meaning, in order to obviate the difficulties 
which were imagined to attend it. And, indeed, the diffi- 
culties consequent upon the supposition, that the confusion 
of tongues at Babel was not of a permanent character, are 
even greater than those which the contrary opinion has 
appeared to involve; for how, upon such a supposition, 
are we to explain the process by which has arisen the 
manifest want of connexion between the Arabic and cognate 
tongues, and the Indo-European or Japhthitish languages 
of the surrounding countries of India, Persia, Media, Asia 
Minor, and Greece ; which process, unquestionably, cannot 
have been one of gradual change, arising from " long sepa- 
ration and distant emigrations;" whilst the Celtic, the 
Teutonic, and the Russian, all which languages have mani- 
festly been subjected to the operation of those causes in 
the highest degree, still retain the characteristics of those 
other Japhthitish tongues, from which, during so many 
ages, they have been altogether separated (Orig. Bibl. 
p. 231). 

Another objection against the theory of the gradual 
operation of subsequent causes, is the fact, that in tracing 
back languages to their original seats, instead of becoming 
more assimilated to one another, their characteristic differ- 
ences stand out more prominently, and are more sharply 
defined. Also, if long separation and distant emigration 
exercised any influence in forming the character of Celtic, 
Gothic, Sclavonian, much of their economy must have 
borne the stamp of chance and caprice ; whereas, " the law 
of their variation proves indisputably, that they are original 
and individual languages of great internal strictness " ( See 
Part i. ch. 4). 



284 APPENDIX. 

The various phenomena, which are offered to our consi- 
deration by Comparative Philology, in a manner compel 
us to assume some supernatural agency to account for the 
existing diversity of languages ; but commentators do not 
agree in the explanation of the Scriptural pass^es which 
bear on the subject. The rationalist Eichhorn boldly 
states, that two different myths on the confusion of lan- 
guages, are tacked together in the book of Genesis ; the 
one preserved in the name of Babel, which related that 
mankind were dispersed by the direct intervention of the 
Almighty; the other, connected with the name of Peleg, 
which stated, that Noah portioned out the world among his 
posterity. The common opinion, which attributes the 
diversity of languages to the transaction at Babel, certainly 
does involve a difficulty which ought to be fairly met, and 
deserves our serious consideration. Commentators and 
historians, who conceive the earth to have been divided in 
the time of Peleg, at a period anterior to the confusion of 
tongues, and to the dispersion consequent upon it, are 
hardly consistent with tliemselves ; for tlie division of the 
earth among the collective posterity of Noali, as previously 
recorded in Gen. x., was conducted peaceably and method- 
ically, according to their tongues, families, and nations, 
which procedure implies, that a diversity of languages was 
then established; on the contrary, the subsequent facts, 
related afterwards in Gen. xi., were of a turbident charac- 
ter, and, as I believe, did not affect the whole human race, 
but concerned only that portion of mankind, who were 
especially distinguished by the title " sons of men." 
Indeed, 1 cannot but think, that Eichhorn had scne grounds 
for concluding, that ch. x. and xi. contained statements 
which unfolded different views, if wc confine these chap- 



APPENDIX. 285 

ters, according to the common idea, to one and the same 
event. But, in reality, does any necessity for such a 
limitation exist ? the true solution of the difficulty, and the 
correct understanding of the subject, depend entirely, in 
my opinion, on the negative answer to this query ; and I 
shall now give my reasons for concluding that the two 
chapters relate the history of two entirely different 
events. 

First : — From the silence observed on the point, we have 
reason to infer, that the Antediluvians were of one lan- 
guage and of one speech; and it has always struck rae, 
that the diversity of tongues in the new world, held some 
necessary relation to the curtailment of life, and the altered 
circumstances of man ; and that it would have been intro- 
duced, even if no such transaction as that at Babel had 
taken place. 

Again : It is particularly noticed, that the people 
engaged in that transaction were " the sons of men ;" 
" And the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower, 
which the sons of men builded" (Gen. xi. 5). Now since 
this phrase occurs just before with a particular meaning, as 
explained in Part iii. ch. 1, there can be no good reason 
for supposing, that it is used again so soon afterwards in a 
completely different sense. The just inference, therefore, 
is, that the infidel Hamites were alone engaged in the 
structure of Babel ; whilst the division of the earth by 
tongues and nations, affected the whole posterity of Noah. 
I may add that Moses, at a subsequent period, in referring 
to these early occurrences, still keeps them asunder as two 
distinct events ; and mentions them in the same order, as 
in the previous history (Deut. xxxii. 7). 



286 APPENDIX. 

" Remember thou the days of old. 
Consider the years of many generations ; 
Ask thy father, and he will show thee, 
Thy elders, and they will teU thee {that) 
When the Most High portioned out the nations (Gen. x.). 
When he scattered the " sons of men" (Gen. xi). 
He settled the boundaries of the peoples 
By the number of the children of Israel ; 
For the portion of Jehovah is his people ; 
Jacob, the measure of his inheritance." 

By this mode of interpretation, we gain a clear and con- 
sistent narrative of two distinct and important events ; and 
entirely get rid of Eichhorn's imputation, that this part of 
the Sacred History is made up of two independent and 
inconsistent myths. 

The view of the subject here offered for consideration, 
possesses the advantages above-mentioned ; and the only 
objection that can be rciised against it, lies in the strong 
expression, " the whole earth was of one knguage and of 
one speech" (Gen. xi. 1). Now, although attention has 
not been drawn to any particular meaning of the words 
" the whole eartli " in this passage ; yet the phrase itself 
has been thoroughly discussed in the account of the flood, 
as connected with Geology. Whilst all writers cannot but 
agree, that the deluge was universal in regard to man ; 
there are many respectable authors who argue, even from 
the terms of Scripture, that the flood was only a local catas- 
trophe in respect of the whole globe. It is remarked, that 
the word ^nK, besides its extensive meaning of " the earth," 
is as often used in the more limited sense of " land, coun- 
try ;" the land of Canaan, of Egypt, &c ; and in the New 
Testament we meet with the expression, " there was dark- 



APPENDIX. 287 

ness over the whole earth (of Canaan, f^' oXtjv njv yr}v, 
Mark xv. 33). In the history of Babel, the sense of the 
words is much more clearly defined, than in the account of 
the flood; for the ambiguous phrase, which may signify 
either " the whole earth," or " all the land," is here deter- 
mined to the more limited meaning by the other specific 
phrase, " the sons of men," or the infidel Hamites. 

Some trifling philosophers have asserted that language 
itself is a human invention; and they have been at some 
pains to show the gradual progress which it made from the 
unmeaning sounds of the savage to the eloquent articula- 
tion of civilized man. This gratuitous assumption is directly 
opposed to the express declaration of Scripture, that Adam 
was created with the perfect use of all his faculties, and 
among the rest, with that of speech ; and it is equally 
inconsistent with the subsequent history of Noah : the 
philosophical theory, therefore, would be beneath notice 
on that account ; but I introduce it here for the sake of 
the philological remarks that may be connected with it, 
and which afford an independent refutation of it. 

Fr. Schlegel, in his treatise on the Language and Phi- 
losophy of the Hindoos, has devoted a chapter to the con- 
sideration of the origin of languages, in which he says: 
The various hypotheses concerning their origin would have 
completely fallen to the ground, or at least would have 
assumed quite a different form, if they had been deduced 
from historical investigation, instead of being drawn from 
the imagination only. In particular, it is quite an arbi- 
trary and erroneous assumption, that languages had their 
origin in every case in the same manner. On the contrary, 
the difference of languages in this point of view is so great, 
that it would be an easy task to bring forward some one 



288 APPENDIX. 

idiom to support any of the hypotheses hitherto made on 
the subject. If, for example, we look into a Mantchou 
dictionary, we observe with surprise that the greater part 
of the language consists of words imitative of the sense ; 
and, in fact, if Mantchou constituted an important class of 
idioms, and other languages of a similar nature occurred to 
any extent, we could not but acquiesce in the opinion, 
which derives speech in general from the principle of imi- 
tation. From this particular case, however, we discover 
the shape which languages formed on this principle must 
assume; and we are compelled to give up the idea of 
deriving, in this way, other tongues which present a totally 
different appearance. If, now, we direct our attention to 
the Indo-European class, we find that in German the num- 
ber of words which imitate the sense is still considerable in 
itself, though quite insignificant when compared with those 
in Mantchou : in Greek they become fewer, and still more 
so in Latin ; and, in Sanskrit, they so entirely disappear, 
that even the possibility of such an origin for tlie whole 
class is no longer tenable. If we consult Philology as to 
the origin of Sanskrit — the source and model of this family 
of languages — she is silent on the main question, but re- 
turns a most conclusive answer on one very important point : 
Sanskrit is not the result of a mere physical effort at utter- 
ance and an imitation of external sounds, gradually built up 
by successive improvements into an artificial and regular 
form ; on the contrary, this language supplies one proof 
more, if further proof were needed, that man did not, in 
every region, begin his earthly career in the condition of a 
dumb brute, and gradually attain unto speech by long and 
laborious attempts : it rather shows that, if not every where, 
at least in India and Iran, the subtlest reason and clearest 



APPENDIX. 289 

perception had been in operation from the very first ; San- 
skrit itself is the work and product of such reason and per- 
ception, for it expresses not figuratively, but directly, the 
most abstruse metaphysical ideas and the whole range of 
our consciousness (Fr. Schlegel, book i. ch. 5). 

But setting aside Scripture and Philology, let us have 
recourse to experience and to real facts. The following 
questions have naturally been asked, and we may reason- 
ably demand a satisfactory answer before yielding up our 
belief to those philosophers who advocate the invention of 
language by man. " Theorists talk of the invention of words 
by savages, as if it were one of the easiest matters in the 
world. We beg to ask whether they invent any new words 
(that is, original words) now-a-days ? and if not, when the 
process ceased — and why ? We believe it to be almost as 
easy to create a new particle of matter, as for a man, savage 
or civilized, to invent a fresh verbal root, and make it pass 
current as such. How many vocables have the Chinese 
added to their stock during the last three thousand years ? 
or where do we find any recent terms not formed by deriva- 
tion or composition from previously existing elements?" 
(Quart. Rev. vol. Ivii. p. 102.) 

If Sanskrit, from its metaphysical character and freedom 
from onomatopeia, or the imitation of sounds, is opposed to 
the natural origin of language as a human invention, that 
supposition is equally inadmissible from the circumstance, 
that the very oldest idiom in the whole Indo-European 
series is the most richly furnished with the grammatical 
relations of case, tense, &c. ; from which it would appear 
that the natural tendency of language, as of too many other 
human talents, is to deteriorate. It has been forcibly re- 
marked that the history of all languages, and of their pro- 



290 APPENDIX. 

^ressive development, conveys this important fact to us: 
that the older a language is, and the nearer its original, the 
more complete and perfect are its grammatical forms : this 
is so strictly true, that were two hitherto unknown words 
presented to him, the etymologist might decide with cer- 
tainty upon their comparative antiquity by mere inspection 
(Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. x. p. 376). 

Mitford, in discussing the question of the Homeric era, 
has occasion to combat the following position : " That most 
curious machine, the formation of the Greek tongue in its 
several tenses, cases, and numbers, was all perfect and 
complete when Homer wrote. It was impossible for his 
language to have arrived at that summit of excellence to 
which little improvement or addition was made after\vard, 
unless the speakers were also arrived near the summit of 
social life and civil government." The learned critic, says 
Mitford, seems not sufficiently to have adverted to the 
common and known progress of languages. They are often 
found most complex in barbarous times, and simplify with 
the progress of civilization. The Anglo-Saxon had cases and 
a dual number, which it lost before the mixture of Norman 
French had formed our present language ; and the Greek 
dual is scarcely seen but in the old autliors. But the gene- 
ral form and character of every language became fixed in 
barbarous ages, beyond the power of learning to alter. 
Those of the Greek were, indeed, wonderfully happy ; but 
had they not been so delivered down from times of dark- 
ness, all the philosophy of the brightest ages could not 
have added a number, a tense, or a case (vol. i. p. 256). 

There seems to have existed, in regard to Philology, a 
sensitive dread of admitting any agency not human ; but, 
as Mr. Prichard justly observes, it seems incumbent on 



APPENDIX. 291 

those who reject the Scriptural account (of a confusion of 
tongues) on the ground of its making a reference to a 
supernatural, and, as it may be termed, an unknown 
agency, to furnish us with some account of the first exist- 
ence of our species which does not imply events, at least 
equally miraculous ; unless the events which certainly took 
place can be understood in a different way from that in 
which the Sacred Scriptures represent them, we may 
rationally adhere to the whole of the same testimony, as 
involving the operation of no other causes than such as are 
both proved and are sufficient to account for the phenomena 
(Celtic Nations, p. 12). 



THE END. 



GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN S SQUARE, LONDON, 



By the same Author. 



ESSAYS ON THE ANTEDILUVIAN AGE ; 

in which are pointed out its relative position and close connejcion with 
the general scheme of Providence. 

" To him that overcometh will 1 give to eat of the tree of life, which is in 
the midst of the Paradise of God." — Pev. ii. 7- 

Price 65. 6d. 



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